Burnie Aged care provider staffs up amid COVID concerns

An aged care provider says all standards are being met at its Umina Park home in Burnie and more staff have been hired to ease concerns.

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THE company that runs Tasmania’s biggest aged care home says reviews are conducted regularly to ensure it provided quality care and more staff had been hired to deal with workload concerns.

OneCare CEO Peter Williams said Umina Park, in Burnie, was regularly reviewed by the aged care industry’s independent body and an assessment in September showed all areas were met.

Some of the Umina Park’s 212 workers are taking part in a public union campaign over concerns about staff shortages, “unmanageable workloads” and fears over they would cope with a second wave of COVID-19.

One Care Supplied pics for Advertorial feature to go with Matt Thompson's pics. Umina Park, Burnie.

“All OneCare Limited facilities hold a five out of five star compliance rating against the Aged Care Accreditation Standards as observed on the MyAgedCare website,” Mr Williams said.

“The latest Stewart Brown survey (an accepted industry benchmarking tool) for June indicated that Umina Park staffing levels exceeded both the national and state averages in care

hours and total staff hours.

“Over the past 10 months, Umina Park’s work hours have continued to increase well outside the approved budget despite the decreasing occupancy levels.”

HACSU assistant state secretary Robbie Moore said the conditions at Umina Park amounted to “short-staffing on steroids”.

“With residents starting to be impacted by the chronic understaffing, staff now feel they have no option but to try and win community support for their calls for more staff.”

Mr Williams said OneCare Limited prided itself in having higher work hours across each facility then those suggested in the Stewart Brown Survey.

“In order to maintain the high level of care, it is important to us that our staff feel supported in the amazing work they do every day. The industry pressures have been difficult for us all in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

“The requirements placed on us by State and National Government/Department of

Health have caused increased workloads for staff, while border closures and industry wide

staffing shortages meant that recruitment has been challenging at times.”

OneCare said an additional 18 staff had been recruited for Umina Park since July 2020 including Extended Care Assistants and Nurses and an additional 12 hours of care per day had been added to the roster.

“Moving forward, OneCare Limited will continue to make improvements in our business operations based on feedback and continue to meet directly with staff to foster a culture of open communication and support,” Mr Williams said.