Aged-care Covid crisis causing neglect in ‘abysmal’ SA nursing homes
Conditions in SA’s aged-care homes have been described as “abysmal” as new figures show a dramatic jump in Covid deaths. Search the list to see every facility’s Covid deaths and cases.
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Aged-care residents are being left sitting in faecal matter, unbathed and dehydrated, while staff have to care for as many as 60 people by themselves in what advocates are calling “abysmal” conditions in South Australia’s nursing homes.
It comes as federal government data shows Covid-19 infections among SA nursing home staff increased from 1353 on January 20 to 1523 on January 28.
The data also shows a 17 per cent increase in residents with Covid-19, up from 873 to 1023 over the same period.
Unions have slammed the federal government for its treatment of aged-care staff and residents, calling for more action so the state’s most vulnerable can be protected.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation SA chief executive Elizabeth Dabars said there had been staff shortages “so abysmal” that residents had missed medication, meals and water. Other basic care not delivered included missing clothing changes, bathing and wound care.
She said there was not enough rapid antigen tests for staff and, when coupled with a poor jab rollout, the Morrison government’s response had been “woefully inadequate”.
“Standards of care have plummeted so badly due to burnout, staff shortages and extended shifts, staff fear elderly lives are at risk,” Prof Debars said.
“We have heard reports of just one nurse left to care for 60 residents during a night shift and another report of three staff, just one registered nurse, left to care for more than 100 residents. This level of staffing results in a lack of adequate care and in some instances neglect.”
Latest federal data shows the most deaths in aged-care homes were Linsell Lodge Aged Care Facility (6), the Philip Kennedy Centre Residential Care (5) and Bene Aged Care – The Italian Village (4).
Homes with the most infections were Estia Health Aberfoyle Park (50), Fullarton Lutheran Homes (40) and Milpara ACH (37).
Homes with the highest number of staff with Covid-19 were the Philip Kennedy Centre Residential Care (45), Estia Health Aberfoyle Park (41), and Fullarton Lutheran Homes and Boandik Kessal (37).
Bene and Boandik Kassal both have current sanctions or notices, government data shows. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 83 deaths in SA aged-care homes, as of January 28 – and there have been 143 residential aged care facilities in SA with active outbreaks, since December 25.
Frail Yanni Doumtsis is doing it tough, said his son Peter, of Coober Pedy, has not been able to see his dad, 89, for at least three months. He hoped he would be able to see his father at his Kimba nursing home – which is about seven hours away – this month.
“It’s sad just thinking about him,” Peter Doumtsis said.
“I’m missing him – really missing him – and I cannot wait to give him a big hug.
“His family all miss him and many can’t make the journey by car to see him. It’s painful to think how isolated he is from family.”
Aged-care worker Curtis, who has been in the industry for almost two decades, said it had been tough working in his northern suburbs home during the pandemic. Curtis, who did not want to share his surname, said lots of workers were struggling through double shifts, sometimes a triple shift, to address staff shortages.
He said residents sometimes felt uneasy about the entire situation.
“They are terrified, and that makes them so emotional. You don’t have the time to sit down and talk to them about what is going on,” Curtis said
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, SA has the highest number of aged-care facilities with an outbreak per capita, the highest number of aged-care staff infected per capita and the second highest number of aged-care residents infected per capita. United Workers Union SA is fighting for the rights of aged-care workers, many of whom say they are “burnt out”, working in “awful” conditions and “feel unsafe”.
The union’s aged care leader in SA, Kimberley Rowney, said the situation was “dire”.
She said staff needed access to rapid testing, paid pandemic leave, more bonuses, more workers and freely available PPE.
“We have had reports of entire wings left without staff, which could be 30 residents, and residents going without showering because there isn’t enough staff to provide the level of care that these people deserve, expect and are promised by a government,” Ms Rowney said.
A spokesman for the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck, said late on Thursday that the national Covid Vaccine Taskforce has “offered all residential aged care facilities an in-reach booster clinic for residents and workers”.
“Where there is an outbreak the department is working with vaccine providers to prioritise these facilities.
Southern Cross Care’s Philip Kennedy Centre Residential Care in Largs Bay had the second highest number of residents deaths and the highest rate of staff infections.
During its Covid-19 outbreak last month, the home was provided additional management and clinical staff.
“Southern Cross Care remains very concerned about the increasing gap between the cost of providing high-quality residential aged care and the level of direct care funding provided by the government,” Southern Cross Care SA chief executive David Moran said.
Estia Health refused to comment because management were “fully focused” on supporting residents, families and staff.
An ACH Group spokeswoman said staff who provided care to Covid-positive residents or close contacts were given pay loading to “acknowledge the challenging circumstances”.
SA Health referred The Advertiser to the federal Health Department, which did not provide comment.
* A previous version of this story listed one recent Covid-related death at The Carlyle on Cross aged care home. It also said the home had received a non-compliance notice between July and October last year.
Those details were based on federal government documents.
Premier Health Care has supplied documentation to The Advertiser showing the death in January was predominantly due to another cause and no non-compliance notice was issued last year.
Colbeck faces call to bring in army or quit
Calls are mounting for Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck to resign or call in the army amid his handling of Covid-19 in aged-care homes, as a major national provider says staff cannot “push through” the crisis.
Senator Colbeck’s handling of aged care has been slammed after he was forced to defend why he attended an Ashes Test cricket match over a parliamentary committee hearing into Covid-19 in care homes.
Senator Colbeck also said the sector was not in crisis.
In an open letter to Scott Morrison, BaptistCare NSW/ACT chief executive Charles Moore turned on the Prime Minister’s assertion the country could “push through”.
“Our teams have been valiantly fighting the pandemic on multiple fronts for two years but we are exhausted, and we are fast losing ground,” he wrote in the letter.
“This means that, again, our residents have been isolated in their rooms or restricted to smaller areas of the home for weeks on end without family, without the social interaction and physical activity so essential to their wellbeing.
“In a press conference you suggested the solution was to simply ‘push through’ and ‘manage the demands in aged care facilities as best we can’.
“On this point we cannot stay silent. The simple truth is that we cannot maintain the standard of care our community expects if the situation continues and all we do is ‘push through.’”
The letter was written on January 27 and on Monday the government announced $800 payments for aged-care staff.
Former NSW premier Mike Baird, who is now HammondCare’s chief executive, called for the army to help with aged-care services.
He said they could help with cleaning and cooking.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation SA Branch chief executive Elizabeth Dabars urged the PM to act on this suggestion.
“The situation is now so dire the ANMF, other unions and aged-care providers have called on the Prime Minister to urgently deploy the Australian Defence Force to provide emergency support,” Professor Dabars said. “This SOS has gone unanswered.”
COTA SA, the body promoting the rights and needs of older South Australians, said more staff were needed.
The organisation’s chief executive Jane Mussared said there was “enormous goodwill” from struggling staff.
“But there also seems to be an inordinate amount of time trying to source some of the basic tools required in a pandemic – RATs, PPE and staff,” Ms Mussared said.
United Workers Union aged care lead SA Kimberley Rowney said if Senator Colbeck was not willing to do his job he should resign, and she rejected his assertion there was no crisis in aged care.
Senator Colbeck did not reply to questions from The Advertiser until 8.15pm on Thursday.
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