Coronavirus Aged Care Royal Commission: Victoria aged care crisis not immediate inquiry fodder

Victoria’s response to the second wave outbreak won’t be part of August Royal Commission hearings on coronavirus and aged care.

A resident of Epping Gardens Aged Care Facility is taken away in an ambulance on Tuesday in Melbourne, Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

The Aged Care Royal Commission will not examine the Victorian response to the second wave outbreak in its upcoming August hearings on the impact of the pandemic on aged care.

The commissioners are concerned an investigation of the outbreak currently affecting 77 aged care homes would be a distraction from the immediate response efforts and cause additional distress for those recently affected.

They will begin hearings on August 10 to examine the responses by the aged care sector to COVID-19, but will focus instead on earlier outbreaks at Newmarch House and Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Sydney.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday the commission would be examining the current Victorian outbreak, but the commissioners emphasised this would not be in the next round of hearings set to examine whether there had been systemic failures and the sector’s preparedness for an outbreak.

“Commissioners have considered the evolving and ongoing nature of the crisis in Victoria, and in particular in residential aged care services in Victoria,” the commission said in a statement on Wednesday

Newmarch House in Kingswood in Sydney will be one of the subjects of the August hearings. Picture: Damian Shaw

“To focus their inquiry on the Victorian response at this time would unnecessarily distract the State, affected aged care providers, and those working within affected aged care services and in aged care across Victoria more generally.

“Importantly, such a focus would cause unnecessary additional stress and distress for those grieving the loss of loved ones and those concerned for the wellbeing of others,” it said.

Mr Morrison said on Wednesday the commission must examine the Victorian outbreak as part of its brief.

“The royal commission will have absolute ability to go into the intricacies of these issues and I hope they do because all lessons always must be learnt,” he said.

The two weeks of hearings will focus on issues surrounding the roles and responsibilities of the state and federal governments.

It will also examine how pandemics and infectious disease outbreaks should be best managed, and how the risks posed by infectious disease situations should be balanced against maintaining the overall health and wellbeing of aged care recipients, including their mental health and quality of life.

The incidents examined will be Newmarch House, Dorothy Henderson Lodge, and Opal Care Bankstown.