Vigilance must be maintained in aged care sector

Australians were shocked and horrified in 2017 at the appalling state of residential aged care services, triggered by the Oakden nursing home scandal.

Reports of elderly dementia patients being inappropriately restrained and having incorrect doses of medication administered by poorly trained staff at the South Australian facility, which had a toxic culture of cover-up, was a wake-up call to a complacent nation.

It quickly emerged the problems in the sector were not isolated to this one facility and that widespread neglect and abuse of elderly people in residential care needed urgent attention.

The new aged care act is rights-based.Credit: Bloomberg

The state of aged care was deemed to be a national crisis, leading to a royal commission being established to address the systemic issues.

After more than two years of work, hearing from 641 witnesses and 10,500 public submissions, the royal commission’s final report was released in 2021.

It made 148 recommendations, concluding that there must never be a repeat of the abuse and neglect of patients in the aged care sector.

The state of aged care has vastly improved as a result, but the importance of continued attention to the operation of facilities is evidenced by our reporting on the rates of COVID-19 among aged care residents – at their highest in 18 months as vaccination coverage wanes.

Only 40.3 per cent of permanent aged care residents had received a COVID-19 booster shot within the past six months, as is recommended.

As we report today, new federal data shows there are 97 aged care facilities where fewer than 10 per cent of residents have had a COVID-19 booster within the past 12 months. At 170 facilities, the vaccination rate is less than 20 per cent.

This is despite old age being a key risk factor for severe COVID-19, and a warning to providers in May from Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly and Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson that the vaccination rate was “disappointingly low”.

The federal Department of Health and Aged Care has, quite rightly, swung into action this week, contacting facilities with low vaccination rates calling for information about their plans to vaccinate residents over the coming weeks.

Aged Care Minister Anika Wells has emphasised residential aged care providers have a responsibility to ensure facilities have robust infection, prevention and control measures in place.

The Albanese government has carriage of maintaining the momentum from the royal commission. It has a taskforce looking at how aged care is funded and it is working on the delivery of the new aged care act, one of the key recommendations.

Crucially, this rights-based act will take the focus of existing aged care legislation, from how providers are funded to the people receiving the services.

It will enshrine the rights of elderly people accessing aged care, as well as establish new accountability arrangements, a new regulatory model and beef up the powers of the aged care regulator.

Aged and Community Care Providers Association chief executive Tom Symondson said providers took their responsibilities incredibly seriously and pointed to vaccine fatigue as part of the reason for current rates. That is undoubtedly a contributor, but it does not diminish the fact that the need for the new act and a strong regulatory framework around how aged care homes operate is unchanged.

Australia’s population is ageing due to increasing life expectancy and declining fertility rates. People over 65 continue to grow in number and as a share of the population.

It is crucial that we remain vigilant about ensuring the aged care sector is a place of quality care, respite and dignity.

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