Aged care protest: 'Leave it as it is'

CONCERNED residents and community members took part in a peaceful protest outside Blue Care's Riverlea Aged Care Facility today.

KEEP NURSES: Bill Potts, Pat Hyde, Anne Dettl and Victoria Hardy participate in a peaceful protest at the Blue Care Riverlea Aged Care Facility. Picture: Mike Knott BUN280717CARE2

CONCERNED residents and community members took part in a peaceful protest outside Blue Care's Riverlea Aged Care Facility today.

Organiser and resident Allan Rasmussen held the event to draw attention to Blue Care's cutting of nursing staff.

Blue Care has admitted it will slash 11 full-time equivalent nursing positions across its three Bundaberg facilities and started advertising job vacancies for personal carers on Thursday.

"We want them to leave it as it is," Mr Rasmussen said.

He said nurses at the Riverlea facility did "an excellent job" and cutting numbers would be detrimental for everyone.

Anne Dettl, whose husband lives in the facility, said she was upset to hear personal carers would be trained for just a month before taking on duties previously performed by nursing staff.

Mrs Dettl said she believed kitchen and cleaning staff hours were also being cut back.