Age not an issue: hospitals ordered to treat elderly coronavirus sufferers
Greg Hunt says he’s received assurances from Victoria any infected aged-care resident with a clinical need will go to hospital.
Health Minister Greg Hunt is insisting the nation’s hospitals must admit infected COVID-19 patients who require clinical care regardless of age in the midst of ongoing concerns that elderly Australians are being heavily sedated and left to languish in nursing homes.
Mr Hunt on Sunday said he had made “absolutely clear” what was expected of the state health systems and already received assurances from the Victorian government that any infected aged-care resident with a clinical need would be treated in hospital.
“We have that agreement now from the Victorian government,” he said. “I know there are some facilities that have reported resistance at local hospital level and wherever that has been the case, we’ve taken it up either with the hospital system or Victoria.”
The deal comes as the federal government was forced to send health authorities to take over two aged-care facilities in Victoria — Japara Goonawarra Aged Care Home in Sunbury and Doutta Galla Aged Services home in Yarraville — in a bid to avoid another nursing home disaster, following claims frail residents were being abandoned as the pathogen swept through aged-care homes.
Seven residents at Doutta Galla Yarraville Village, in Melbourne’s inner west, have died in the past fortnight after an outbreak at the assisted living facility 16 days ago.
All 23 residents who remain at the home have tested positive for the potentially fatal pathogen and are being cared for by an AUSMAT Medical Response team under emergency conditions following its arrival on Sunday.
The lockdown has meant residents have been cut off from sharing any physical contact with their loved ones, and are instead restricted to speaking to their family via telephone and forlorn exchanges through room windows.
The increasing number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the state’s nursing homes is intensifying pressure on the Morrison government, which has responsibility for aged care.
Victorian health official reported on Sunday a further 279 new COVID cases had been confirmed in the previous 24 hours, along with 16 more deaths, bringing the number of fatalities in the state to 309. Of the 16 deaths recorded in Victoria, 11 were among nursing home residents. There have been more than 200 deaths linked to the state’s aged-care sector, with 2075 active cases.
“It’s not just about moving entire nursing homes, out of a familiar environment into an unfamiliar environment,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said. “It’s also about sending very significant members of staff — nurses and hospital nurses and personal care workers — into aged-care facilities.”
Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said the Doutta Galla outbreak was being treated as a “top priority”.
“The workforce is being supplemented to help stabilise the situation, but we are aware there may still be some deficiencies and that is being actively managed,” Senator Colbeck said.
He said the Older Persons Advocacy Network had been engaged to support residents and their families and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission had been alerted to the outbreak.
Doutta Galla Aged Services chief executive Vanda Iaconese said the coronavirus outbreak at the facility began 16 days ago, with no new cases on Sunday.
She said the 23 residents confirmed to have the coronavirus were being treated at the facility, with the rest transferred to hospital early last week to protect them from the coronavirus. “COVID-19 has brought unprecedented disruption and difficulty for our residents, families and staff,” she said.
“We are grateful to the various authorities for their support as we moved as quickly as we could to protect our residents.”
She said seven Doutta Galla residents, most of whom were receiving palliative care for other conditions, had passed away in the past two weeks.
There were 16 staff members at the Yarraville facility in Melbourne’s inner west on Sunday.
Plans will be put to national cabinet this Friday for face-to-face infection control training rather than online modules, mandatory use of face masks by nursing home staff and a broad audit of emergency response capabilities in all states and territories.
The Australian has revealed Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services had refused to hospitalise COVID-infected aged-care residents. Instead, residents with clinical needs at risk of “wandering” and infecting other residents and staff have been heavily sedated with medications including morphine, midazolam or the antipsychotic risperidone.
The Australian understands the Morrison government hopes the issue will be rectified through the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre, which is expected to be rolled out nationally to respond to local outbreaks.
Counsel assisting the aged-care royal commission, Peter Rozen, last week excoriated the federal government’s handling of the sector during COVID-19, saying it had failed to heed the lessons of earlier outbreaks at Newmarch House and Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Sydney. Opposition NDIS spokesman Bill Shorten levelled blame at the Morrison government for its handling of coronavirus outbreaks in aged-care facilities on Sunday, saying aged-care workers were “doing the work of angels” but being “treated like fruit pickers.”