industry & reform amount of time . It used to happen but then the state government gave it up because the federal government was going to look into that space , but then abandoned it and left it to the states . In the end , no one was doing it .
So we have a local shortage , there ’ s a national shortage and an international shortage . We just need the new government to do some workforce planning , because we need some strategies to ensure that the beds they ’ re proposing to provide can actually be staffed .
What we ’ ve also been advocating for is some short term measures , which really boils down to incentives and allowances and arrangements to encourage people to stay in the profession .
We are looking at trying to incentivise people to delay their retirement , for instance , or incentivise people to increase their hours from part-time to full-time . We also need to incentivise people to go out to country and rural areas , because there is an increasingly significant problem in those areas as a direct result of the inability to staff the beds and units .
And we ’ ve also been talking to the government about what we managed to convince the former government to do , which is to employ every single nurse and midwife graduating from their course in a university in South Australia and offer them a job now . We also need to offer all of the people who did get offered a job last year a permanent ongoing position .
The recent CEDA report said the number of people needing assistance has increased by more than 700,000 since 2016 . What are your thoughts on this ? Definitely in terms of aged care and even in the hospital system , the complexity and intensity of patient needs are increasing . And so too is what I describe as churn through the hospitals . There are some long stays , which is another problem that is blocking up the system , and that ’ s not fault of the people in those beds in most cases , but there ’ s also increasing workload intensity everywhere .
I think the issue in residential aged care really has been heightened by an absolute and abject failure to provide staffing levels that enable the nurses and care staff to provide adequate and safe care . Even though the needs of those residents is increasing , all we ever see is cuts to staff and to the skill mix of those staff .
But it does also boil down to workforce . One of the issues with workforce is that there has been a failure to recognise and reward people for the skills and expertise they bring and the value of their work .
Care staff are being paid less than people who work in the fast food sector . While I think all workers should be respected , I think we can also equally appreciate that people who are dealing with vulnerable , elderly people should be recognised and rewarded appropriately for the work they ’ re doing .
We had a situation in Whyalla recently where one of the residential aged care facilities shut down because they couldn ’ t attract and retain staff : the staff that they did have in the system were basically going over to the hospital to work , because they could see for themselves that they had better workloads because there were better nurse-to-patient ratios . They also were being paid more .
This is an environment where you have to start recognising people ’ s worth and paying them accordingly . And quite frankly , to date , that ’ s something this sector has not appeared to be willing to do .
Do you think the government will be able to achieve the promised 24 / 7 nurses in aged care homes ? I think they will . I think they ’ ve made a very clear commitment , which we have all really welcomed . It might take some time to achieve , but I think it is absolutely possible . And I do think it is absolutely necessary .
These are people who are extremely dependent , often with very high care needs and their health is failing . They really do need and deserve expertise and help 24 / 7 . They actually need someone in attendance . Quite frankly , if they address some of these issues in the residential aged care system , it would take a significant amount of pressure off our hospital system .
Part of the problem is that residential facilities have such a low tolerance for risk because of the low staffing levels that they end up sending residents with a urinary tract infection , for instance , off to hospital very quickly .
If they had appropriate and proper care that would lead to a reduction in urinary tract infections in the first place . That would be a huge success for everyone . But if they still contracted a urinary tract infection , for example , if they
“ There has been a failure to recognise and reward people for the skills and expertise they bring .
had appropriate staff and care at the facility , they wouldn ’ t need to go to a hospital . They should be able to access adequate treatment and care within the facility .
So we have a lot of elderly people , who through no fault of their own , are stuck in the hospital system .
What is the SA branch of the ANMF planning for the future to advocate for reform ? We ’ ve been putting a huge range of solutions forward to the government , but our primary one is about having appropriate step-down care and out-ofhospital care . The aim should be about prevention rather than cure .
When people do need their acute phase of treatment , they should be able to , as seamlessly and quickly as possible , get out of the acute care setting and into the community or a step-down unit , or some other appropriate combination . People shouldn ’ t be housed in an acute bed when they don ’ t actually have an acute problem anymore .
Another one is to get that workforce planning going . Again , we ’ ve been very heartened by the state government who has increasingly committed to doing that planning . What we now need to see is the implementation for it .
Thirdly , we need to see those short term incentives . We ’ ve put those incentives forward and the proposition of employing all those graduating nurses and midwives this year , and the continuing appointment of the ones that were employed last year . We ’ re waiting for a response from the government on that . We have been encouraging our members to send a letter to the Minister for Health and the Attorney General here in South Australia . The last time I checked we had about 3,000 signatories , which I think is a really important way of showing how deeply that issue is felt .
And we ’ ll continue to work well with the new government . I think they ’ ve made some really , really positive commitments that we ’ ve been absolutely supportive of , but what we now need to see is some action . ■
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