Australia’s aged care royal commission has heard “the time is now” for real action on staffing numbers, skill levels, remuneration, conditions and regulation in the troubled sector, news.com.au reports.
The changes would be underpinned by an effort to make aged care more attractive to potential employees.
Senior counsel assisting, Peter Rozen QC, asked the commissioners to make 10 recommendations relating to workforce issues at an Adelaide hearing on Friday.
Mr Rozen said it was “time to stop kicking the can down the road” and called for the introduction of mandated minimum ratio of care staff to residents to achieve high quality, safe and person-centred services.
He said staffing levels within each facility should be shared with the government and made available to older people and families when making decisions.
Those levels should be set at between 186 and 265 minutes of care per resident each day, including 30 minutes with a registered nurse and 22 minutes of allied health care.
The commission heard mandated ratios would address unacceptably low staffing levels, and guard against attempts to whittle away numbers in budget cycles.
Mr Rozen also said there had been an “apparent exodus” of skilled workers from the aged care system, with roles once undertaken by a registered nurse now left to untrained assistants.
“It is hardly surprising in these circumstances that this royal commission has received thousands of submissions by members of the public complaining about the substandard care being provided,” he said.
To combat the shortage, he recommended that, as a minimum, a registered nurse be on-site and available at all times.
Other recommendations focused on education, including a review of undergraduate medical school curriculums with a view towards making geriatric medicine a core element.
FULL STORY
Call for change in aged care workforce (news.com.au)
More face-to-face help to access aged care (Canberra Times)
‘Why punish them?’: Call to allow retirees to work without a pension cut (WA Today)
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