Aged care worker wants government action, pay gone up $7 in 11 years

Staff shortages at a Geelong aged care facility are so bad one employee says residents have been left in their own faeces, while she has dropped back to part-time hours to cope.

An aged care worker has lifted the lid on working conditions inside a Geelong facility revealing residents have been left in their own faeces due to inadequate staffing.

Aged care worker Donna who spoke passionately at a forum in Armstrong Creek said she had just minutes a night to change each resident and get them into bed, which sometimes required the use of a hoist.

“I love my job. I wanted to make lives better but now we are facing a roadblock,” she said.

“We’ve got six minutes to put each resident to bed each night.”

Donna said her hourly rate had increased just $7 in the 11 years she’d been employed in the industry.

She said more staff were required to improve resident to worker ratios that sat at 1:12 at the aged care facility where she worked.

Donna said better training was needed and poor wage growth meant the industry could not retain staff.

“Years ago a course (to qualify as a personal care assistant) was six or nine months long for four or five days a week,” she said. “Now you can get online for a quick course and you’ll qualify.

“What you are getting is workers coming to the industry as a stop gap saying ‘it will do for now’. We need caring and passionate people.”

Donna told the Geelong Advertiser she chose to be employed part-time because she was overworked during her regular hours.

“I actually couldn’t cope with more hours because my job is so heavy and consuming.

“I don’t know a job, except maybe police and ambulance workers, where you can get kicked, punched and spat at on the job.

“We do the best we can, all we want to do is improve the lives of those in aged care.”

Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck said the federal government was determined to ensure that the quality of care in residential aged care facilities across Australia, including Geelong, met the quality standards.

“It is why we have responded to all 148 recommendations from the final report into the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety,” he said.

“The government is delivering record investment across the aged care system over the forward estimates.”

In February the federal government pledged to pay aged care workers $800.

The payments, also for workers providing care in government subsidised home care, will be made to those employed on February 28 and April 28.

Corangamite MP Libby Coker said 25 per cent of aged care shifts were not filled across the nation.

“The sector has deteriorated shockingly under the Coalition government due to its serious neglect over the past nine years,” Ms Coker said.

“Funding cuts, inadequate staff-to-patient ratios, low wages and a casualised workforce have all led to a system buckling under intense pressure.

“We hear story after story from aged-care nurses, workers and family members about the extremely poor conditions in which our elderly folk are living in aged care. It is truly unacceptable.”

Originally published as Aged care worker wants government action, pay gone up $7 in 11 years