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Photo : NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw
Covid inquest
Latest inquest into largest NSW aged care Covid-19 outbreak .
By Eleanor Campbell
A
Sydney aged care home where 19 residents died from COVID-19 turned into a place of “ chaos and dysfunctionality ” due to lack of staffing and poor communication , an inquest has heard .
Anglicare ’ s Newmarch House saw a 65-day coronavirus outbreak between April and June 2020 , where 37 out of 97 residents and 19 staff members became infected .
The NSW coroner carried out a threeweek investigation to examine the facility ’ s handling of what was then the largest aged care COVID-19 outbreak in the state .
The court heard that preparations on behalf of Anglicare were “ insufficient ” and led to a decision to treat unwell residents inside of the facility rather than transfer them to hospital .
Counsel assisting Simon Buchen SC said 87 per cent of staff were forced to isolate during the outbreak , leaving the facility dependent on agency workers .
This led to residents being left unattended or at times without food , receiving visits from doctors not wearing PPE , and left in isolation for five weeks .
The husband of Margaret Sullivan , who died aged 71 on May 11 2020 after contracting Covid , told the court management refused to let him visit his wife who had dementia and needed to be fed .
“ The management seemed to be lacking – lacking care and empathy , and good business practice ,” said Robert Sullivan “ The communication between March 23rd and the day she died was appallingly bad .”
This is the sixth review into the Newmarch House outbreak since June 2020 .
Aged & Community Care Providers Association chief executive Paul Sadler told Aged Care Insite the sector had “ many lessons to learn ” from the tragedy at Newmarch .
“ It ’ s really important to remember that back in 2020 , there were no vaccinations , there were no antiviral medications available , so we really didn ’ t have any preventional treatment mechanisms for the disease ,” he said . ■
Labor pitches ‘ meaningful ’ wage rise for aged care sector .
The federal government has made a submission to the Fair Work Commission to propose a pay rise for residential and home care workers , fulfilling one of Labor ’ s core election promises .
Wage case
The government has refused to specify a dollar figure in its bid to the fair work umpire . Aged Care Minister Wells said that a “ meaningful ” increase would be supported .
“ That is for the commissioners to decide exactly what percentage the work-value cases were ,” Wells said .
“ But we have agreed that we will fund it no matter what the decision .”
The FWC is currently considering a 25 per cent wage rise after unions launched a historic aged care work value case in 2020 .
If successful , all aged care workers could see a minimum wage increase of at least $ 5 dollars per hour . The hourly rate for a qualified personal carer would rise from $ 23.09 to $ 28.86 .
Lifting sector wages was one of 148 recommendations made in the final report of the royal commission , which identified poor employment conditions as a key driver of substandardcare .
Wells said that a wage lift was “ desperately needed ”, especially due to the increasing complexity of aged care work brought on by Covid-19 and shifting industry standards .
“ We need to do something to value aged care workers better and that starts with a pay rise ,” she said .
“ The Royal Commission recommendations for aged care and for a better standard and a better future in aged care , it is more complex work , so they should be recognised for that .” ■
6 agedcareinsite . com . au