Covid NSW: Aged care home crisis was preventable, rural GP says

Death of Kevin Chapman (picture) and other nursing homes residents from Covid highlights an aged care home disaster that was preventable, a rural GP says.

The Covid crisis in nursing homes is “a disaster of biblical proportions” that was completely predictable.

Rural general practitioner Dr Ray Jones works in nursing homes in both Port Macquarie and Cobar. He lost two patients to Covid last week in Port Macquarie and now as many as 40 of the other residents in the same nursing home are positive.

“The (federal) government has had two years of Australia being virtually Covid-free with limited numbers, and we were largely free of it and even had a Royal Commission into aged care at the same time and they haven’t brought in the recommendations that may have protected these vulnerable people,” he said.

Dr Ray Jones works in regional and rural nursing homes. Picture: Frank Redward

Booster shots were “four months too late” he said and only now are residents getting them.

“It was completely predictable, it happened, they were totally unprepared for it and as a result it has turned into a disaster of biblical proportions,” he said.

“The majority in the Port Macquarie home are positive. They are all old and disabled and their prognosis is not good.”

On Monday, 89-year-old Kevin Chapman was one of two residents who died of Covid in the Port Macquarie nursing home last week. Mr Chapman had 11 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.

Kevin Chapman died of Covid, aged 89, in a Port Macquarie nursing home.

“It’s a very sad time and it’s a shock,” daughter Vicky Fowler said.

“It is in all the homes everywhere, it’s just terrible.”

There have been more than 6000 cases of Covid in NSW nursing homes and 411 have died since January 2020, the majority in the last few weeks as Omicron cuts a swath through the elderly under the new “living alongside Covid” measures.

“They let it rip all right, it has ripped the guts out for the entire aged care system in NSW,” Dr Jones said.

“The staffing levels have been at a crisis point for some years, despite a Royal Commission recommending improved wages to attract more staff to nursing homes. You can get more money working in a supermarket at a checkout and it is easier work.

“There is a lack of proper care even at the best of times, so it is not a safe environment for the residents living there. We had a run of about four fractured femurs from falls recently and that indicates a lack of supervision.

“Most nursing homes are owned by big corporations, some are owned by big financial groups, there is big money in aged care but it is not being spent on employing qualified staff.”

The offer of Australian Defence Force to plug the workforce gap would not meet demand, he said.

“The ADF could provide logistics, bring stuff to the kitchens but they are not trained to wipe people’s backsides or clean them, they are not going to be able to do anything more than logistics, it’s a shemozzle,” he said.

“I am sure that a lot of the deaths that have resulted in the nursing homes from the pandemic could have been prevented through better planning and improvements in the staffing levels.

“It may take years for these changes to occur, but this pandemic has shown that it must occur.”

Without change, the 66-year-old GP does not want to end up in one of the places where he works.

“If I ever have to go to a nursing home, put me down. Send me to Switzerland where it is legal to,” Dr Jones said.

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