Push for aged care staff to get flu jabs in wake of nursing home tragedy

AGED-care workers would be forced to have flu vaccinations before caring for elderly Australians under a radical new plan after the death of seven residents at a Wangaratta nursing home.

Serious questions are now being raised about why nursing homes are not required to immediately tell the department once flu begins to spread.

AGED-care workers would be forced to have flu vaccinations before caring for elderly Australians under a radical new plan being considered by the Turnbull Government after the death of seven residents at a Wangaratta nursing home.

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In an unprecedented move, Health Minister Greg Hunt has asked Australia’s chief medical officer Professor Brendan Murphy to investigate ways to boost vaccination rates among aged care workers.

It comes as the Sunday Herald Sun can reveal St John’s Retirement Village notified Victoria’s Health Department eight days after the first infection. There were 18 residents struck down with the flu by that stage.

Serious questions are now being raised about why nursing homes are not required to immediately tell the department once flu begins to spread.

Health Minister Greg Hunt. Picture: AAP

It can also be revealed that five rural health services are failing to meet the statewide target of having 75 per cent of their workers vaccinated. At some major hospitals — including Ballarat, Albury Wodonga, Barwon, Austin and Monash — about a quarter of the health workers are unvaccinated.

Mr Hunt said he would work with medical authorities, healthcare workers and the aged care sector to try to make the flu jab compulsory for those working in aged care facilities.

“We cannot continue to have a situation where people, whose immunity is already low, are at risk from others who may be infected,” Mr Hunt said. “Our job is to protect those who need our care.”

So far this year, there have been more than 11,300 people infected by influenza in Victoria, and about 60 deaths from the flu in nursing homes.

Across Australia more than 90,000 cases of influenza have been reported this year, which is two and a half times the amount recorded in the same period last year.

Opposition health spokeswoman Mary Wooldridge. Picture: Steve Tanner

The state’s health department has recorded 208 cases of flu outbreaks this year, which is double the amount seen last year in the same period. At present, there is no requirement for aged care workers to be vaccinated under law, however providers have a duty of care to provide the safest possible environment for their residents and carers.

Despite the first Wangaratta case being detected on August 3, Victoria’s health department was not notified until August 11, five days before the first death. Under state government guidelines, the nursing home had to notify the department within 72 hours of three residents contracting the flu.

With third case detected on August 8, the nursing home took the full three days to tell the department.

The Australian Aged Care Quality Agency will conduct an urgent audit of the nursing home as soon as Victoria’s public health unit declares the influenza outbreak is over.

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