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 Home News General
Aged Care Staffing Raised in Complaints Report30 October 2003The head of the Commonwealth watchdog given the job of handling aged care complaints has spoken out about staffing in residential aged care facilities. In his latest annual report, Commissioner for Complaints Rob Knowles said there was widespread concerns within the industry about the lack of nursing staff and also doctors working in aged care. He said the workforce was ''ageing and overstretched" and the current situation "seriously troubles service providers and their existing staff, residents and their families and the general community". The Australian Medical Association had reported that the number of visits to residential care services between 1998 and 2000 had declined by nearly 40,000. Health Services Union national secretary Craig Thomson welcomed the comments of Mr Knowles but said the shortages were not just confined to nurses and doctors. "In every area of aged care facilities there are problems with under-staffing,'' he said. "There are no minimum staffing levels that apply so too many providers simply employ the lowest number of staff they can possibly get away with. "Some do not even have staff awake at night to care for residents. The shortages are affecting the quality of care." Staffing and training levels were among the main issues raised in the 1,227 complaints investigated during 2002/2003. Continuing the trend of previous years the problems were greatest in Victoria where there were 563 or 46 per cent. That was more than double the number in NSW where 269 complaints were recorded. Mr Knowles said a lack of cooperation and exchange of ideas between management and staff and or a lack of professional leadership together with poor communication between management, staff and consumers was creating unnecessary pressure. "In many instances it is the lack of open communication that gives rise to distrust, dissatisfaction and complaints,'' he said. Visit our aged care campaign section to learn more or Have your say about aged care in our forums section |
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© 2003 Health Services Union (HSU) |
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