Dementia training needed for all care workers, aged-care royal commission told

An aged-care peak body boss has apologised for failures in the sector, saying he was “shocked and saddened” by the scandals.

An aged-care peak body boss has apologised for failures in the sector, saying he was “shocked and saddened” by the scandals.

Leading Age Services Australia chief executive Sean Rooney told the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety the failures were “unacceptable and I am sorry for the hurt this has caused”.

The commission also heard a huge rise in the number of patients requiring the highest complexity level of care in residential aged care was contributing to “funding stress”, which Mr Rooney said was slowing an investment in new building and refurbishing existing ones.

Mr Rooney said data showed 83,500 new beds would be needed in the next 10 years, compared with the about 35,000 created in the previous 10 years.

Leading Age Services Australia chief executive Sean Rooney.

“We found evidence to suggest that instability and insecurity with regards to finding certainty was causing providers to put on hold plans with regards to refurbishment or construction in some cases,” Mr Rooney said.

Productivity Commission data shows that 53 per cent of residential aged-care patients needed the highest level of complex health care last year, compared with 12.7 per cent of residents in 2008.

Earlier, Dementia Australia chief executive Maree McCabe called for training in dealing with dementia to be made mandatory for aged care workers.

She told the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety that mandatory training was required as “as a cultural element to the change that’s required”.

More than half of the patients in residential aged-care facilities have dementia, and the condition is soon projected to be the leading cause of death in Australia.

It’s expected the amount of Australians with dementia will more than double by 2050 to 900,000. About 376,000 Australians are currently living with dementia.

Dementia Australia chief executive Maree McCabe

Ms McCabe told the fifth day of the royal commission that personal care workers, about 70 per cent of the aged-care workforce, did not receive any training about dementia as part of their training.

“Their certificate III does not provide any education around dementia, not as mandatory or even optional training,” she said.

In a statement, she said a minimum level of dementia specific training should become a “national prerequisite to work in aged care”.

“The staffing resources in terms of numbers and skills mix needs to be sufficient to meet the complex care needs of people living with dementia,” she said.

“One of the key things about education is about developing empathy.

“It’s about the ability to stand in the world of somebody living with dementia and experiencing it through their eyes.”

The inquiry heard that Dementia Australia runs its own immersive experience which simulates what it’s like for people to have dementia.

“Our theory was that if we can simulate that it will change people’s attitude, it would change their behaviour and it would then change the practice and care that was implemented for people living with dementia,” Ms McCabe said. “And we’re seeing some significant changes in the way people operate.”

Ms McCabe endorsed Oakden whistleblower Barb Spriggs’ push for a national database of misbehaving or substandard aged-care workers to be flagged in a national database.

She told the commission a system could be adopted for the industry, mirroring the way nurses can be sanctioned by the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency.

“There is no way of ensuring that they don’t work elsewhere,” she said.

Leading Age Services Australia, Aged and Community Services and Catholic Health Australia will also give evidence to the royal commission on Tuesday.