REPORT: Electorate's elderly not receiving adequate care

A STATE-WIDE audit of aged care facilities by the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union has revealed chronic understaffing in all 30 federal Qld electorates.

FILE PHOTO. Picture: Crystal Jones

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A STATE-WIDE audit of aged care facilities by the Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union has revealed chronic understaffing and associated elder neglect in all 30 federal Queensland electorates.

Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union Secretary Beth Mohle said the QNMU recently audited more than 80 aged care facilities between Cairns, Cloncurry and Coolangatta.

The electorate of Groom, which takes in Toowoomba and extends to Oakey, Pittsworth and Cambooya, ranked number one in the state for levels of care, with an average 3.11 hours of care per resident per day. 

All 83 facilities audited failed to provide the recommended 4.3 hours of care per resident per day, as outlined by research commissioned by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery federation.

The electorate of Maranoa ranked 10th in the survey, with an average of 2.75 hours of care per resident per day. 

The audit also revealed the average care hours per resident per day was just 2.61 hours - or 1.69 hours below the hours recommended. 

The lowest hours of care, an average of 1.69 hours per resident per day, were detected in facilities audited in the federal electorate of Moncrieff which includes the Gold Coast suburbs of Nerang, Carrara and Miami. 

Ms Mohle said nurses, midwives and QNMU staff tired of federal inaction on conditions in Australian aged care designed and volunteered to conduct the secret audit.

The audit, believed to the first of it kind, revealed elderly Queenslanders throughout the state were routinely forced to wait for help and were not properly washed, fed, medicated, exercised or turned.

"The results are startling. The QNMU's audit has confirmed Queensland's aged care facilities are in crisis due to chronic understaffing and the complete lack of federal staffing laws in Australia's private aged care industry," Ms Mohle said. 

Australia' 2600-plus private aged care facilities are the responsibility of the federal government.

In Australia there are no federal laws that require even a single Registered Nurse be on site at an aged care facility at any time.

The lack of laws means aged care facilities are free to staff their facilities as they see fit.

As a result, it has become common practice for a number of aged care facilities to leave residents without a Registered Nurse overnight, every night.

The QNMU wrote to every Queensland federal sitting Member of Parliament and Senator to request they reveal where they stand on aged care and whether they will sign a QNMU pledge for a federal safe staffing law to be introduced in aged care.

The results will be published before the federal election. 

Queensland federal politicians are asked to take note of aged care levels revealed in their electorates. Those who have already signed on to support the pledge can be viewed here.

QNMU's aged care audit findings include:

• More than 77 per cent of aged care staff were not nurses and don't have the training to provide the complex care that many aged care residents now require
• 80% of those audited said understaffing forced residents to wait longer than they should for help
• 80.5% said staff levels were unsafe at their facility
• 68% said they did not have enough time to properly clean residents. It has become common practice for residents to be showered only every few days due to chronic understaffing
• 60.9% said residents were not being walked as often as required
• 62.2% not enough time to turn residents increasing likelihood of bed sores and ulcers. Research shows these wounds account for large numbers of life-threatening infections and hospitalisations
• 55% said staff were not replaced when they couldn't come to work
• 57% said they did not have enough time to properly feed residents
• 57.3% said dangerous understaffing lead to increased falls. Research shows falls may lead to premature death
• 40.2% said poor staffing lead to pressure injuries
• Average nursing hours provided by aged care facilities 2.6 hours per resident per day
• Research shows residents require on average 4.3 hours of nursing per day
• 41% of facilities audited were providing 2.5 or less hours care a day.

Originally published as REPORT: Electorate's elderly not receiving adequate care