industry & reform
there’s no requirement for continuous
monitoring”.
“Counsel, I would suggest that was not
the intent of the suggested change to the
standards,” Rooney replied.
The issue of ACFI indexation was again
raised. Nicolas Mersiades, director of aged
care at Catholic Health Australia, said the
indexation formula is “particularly harsh”
and is not keeping up with the economy.
Dementia Australia chief executive
Maree McCabe told the commission
that by 2056 there will be an estimated
1.1 million Australians with dementia,
adding “there won’t be anybody that is not
impacted in some way”.
McCabe called for mandatory dementia
training for the 240,000 aged care workers
in Australia.
“Seventy per cent work as personal care
workers, and their Certificate III does not
provide any education around dementia,
not as mandatory or even optional
training,” she said.
DAY 6: DEATH BEFORE RESIDENCY
Some people would rather die than go into
residential aged care facilities.
This is according to UnitingCare
Australia’s Claerwen Little, who told the
commission about the findings from
Uniting’s research into community
perceptions of aged care.
They found, among other things, that
although it is in people’s minds, aged care
is not seen as the most pressing issue for
the government to fix.
However, the research did find that
the wider public had a number of
misconceptions about the sector.
“People thought that it was dominated
by the for-profit sector, that … the big for-
profits were making a lot of money out of
aged care,” Little said.
“That it was mostly residential care …
And the sort of nuances of the community
home support program and home care
program really weren’t part of their …
understanding of the aged care system
and sector.”
The research also showed that people’s
understanding of who funds aged care is
limited, and what’s more, they don’t want
to pay for it themselves.
“They think that more money is needed
from government. And I think one of the
other key findings is that people don’t
believe that they should be paying for
aged care.
“They do believe they’ve paid their taxes
and they’ve contributed to the community
all their life and that they should be
supported in old age,” Little said.
When asked what their findings say
about perceptions of aged care, Little did
not sugar-coat her response.
“Sadly, some people suggested they
would rather die than go into a residential
aged care facility. They would rather poke
their eye with a pencil than have to enter a
home,” she said.
DAYS 7 AND 8: HOME CARE PACKAGES
In the final two days of the first hearing of
the royal commission, we heard from the
people affected by the system itself and
had a summary of the proceedings to date.
Kaye Warrener described to the
commission the near two-year wait she
and her husband Les have endured while
waiting for assistance from My Aged Care.
Warrener is her husband’s full-time
carer, and they contacted My Aged Care
for the first time in November 2017 in
relation to a Home Care Package.
“We were told at the very beginning that
it could be 12–18 months for the package,”
she said. “And up until today, we’re still
waiting for the Home Care Package Level 3”.
Warrener described how this wait for
adequate care has seen a decline in her
husband’s health, and this has been hard
for her too.
“It’s hard to watch your loved one –
I mean, we’ve been married for 56 years –
to watch their health deteriorate. And I just
feel with the extra support financially we
would be able to help perhaps delay some
of those onset things that are happening
with age,” she said.
Margot Harker, who is currently on
a Level 4 Home Care Package, spoke
of her frustration with the level of care
she receives.
“With one of my providers at the
moment, the one that’s handling most of
my evening care – so that’s paid for by
the package – I’ve had at least 12 months,
probably the two months of this year
and going back 10 – nine or 10 months
of last year, in which there was, frankly,
incompetence,” she recalled.
“That people who were on a roster didn’t
know they were on the roster; I hadn’t got
a copy of the roster. So those standard
procedures where a coordinator will ring
round the carers and say, ‘Would you be
able to take Margot’s shift on Thursday?’
They then say yes or no.”
She also spoke about the loneliness a
Home Care Package engenders, with no
scope for companionship.
“I think it’s emotionally very crippling,
in the sense that it overtakes you quite a
lot at certain times. I’ve also discovered –
because I was 64 when I had the stroke
and I’m now 72 – that there has been a
kind of accelerated ageing that has gone
on in this time,” she said.
We also heard from Barrie Anderson,
aged care resident, whose wife has
advanced dementia and is nearing the end
of her life. He had an overall positive view
of his and his wife Grace’s time in care
but did talk of the need for more dentists
in the system and the problem of nursing
staff turnover.
For the positives, he cited the original
facility they stayed in for its house-like
layout and the various music programs
they have taken part in.
“I think it’s very important in terms of
not only Grace’s wellbeing but mine. And
in theory, music, I believe, touches the
soul. With the music that Grace is provided
with at the moment, we can reminisce
Sadly, some people
suggested they would
rather die than go into a
residential aged care facility.
about past times. And I think that music
is underestimated in its ability to enhance
people’s lives.”
On the final day of the hearing, counsel
assisting Dr Timothy McEvoy spent over an
hour summing up the thoughts from the
eight days of evidence.
He identified several factors affecting
the provision of aged care in this country:
population growth, increasing dementia
levels, increases in the demand for home
care, workforce issues, the difficulty
obtaining public health services in aged
care, and the economic sustainability of
the system itself.
“The dominant narrative too often
casts older Australians as a burden, rather
than a blessing. The royal commission
rejects that narrative and calls for a culture
of appreciation and respect for older
Australians. But this must be more than a
mere statement of aspiration,” he said.
The next hearing will be held in Adelaide
starting on Monday, 18 March. It will focus
on home care and the community.
The following round, focusing on
quality, safety and dementia, will be held in
Sydney on 6 May. ■
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