Category Archives: Aged care

‘Deplorable’: nurse slammed therapy doll dementia patient believed was real baby on table, NSW tribunal hears

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Sudiksha Ahuja found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and her nursing registration cancelled

An aged care nurse who slammed a dementia patient’s therapy doll on a table and laughed at the distressed patient who believed it was a real baby has been found to have been “callous and deplorable”.

Sudiksha Ahuja was found guilty in August of unsatisfactory professional conduct after being prosecuted by the Health Care Complaints Commission before the New South Wales civil and administrative tribunal, the commission said in a statement on Tuesday. On Monday, the commission cancelled Ahuja’s registration as an enrolled nurse.

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Push to count ‘sleepovers’ as breaks could lead to 28-hour shifts for Australian care workers, unions warn

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Fair Work Commission to hear case brought by business group asking for change to safety net for care industries

A business push to count “sleepovers” as breaks in care industries could result in “nightmare” 28-hour shifts without penalty rates, unions have warned.

This week the Fair Work Commission will hear a case brought by the Australian Industry Group asking it to change the safety net for care industries to clarify that hours worked before or after a sleepover count as separate shifts.

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‘Will haunt me for life’: nurse suspended over Covid lockdown baby shower in Melbourne aged care home before deadly outbreak

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Father-to-be was unaware of planned party at Epping Gardens aged care facility and stayed only five minutes, tribunal hears

An aged care nurse who attended a baby shower at a nursing home during a Covid lockdown has been suspended, telling a tribunal the mistake “will haunt me for the rest of my life”.

Staff at the Epping Gardens aged care held a surprise baby shower in July 2020 for registered nurse Denis Baniqued and his wife, who also worked at the facility.

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How do you best choose an Australian aged care facility and what do the star ratings mean?

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Experts have questioned why so few homes are rated substandard, given the commission found one in three residents experience neglect, abuse or poor care

The star rating system of aged care homes was introduced in December 2022 to help older people and their families compare the quality and safety of services and providers.

Developed as a recommendation of the royal commission, the system has repeatedly come under scrutiny. Experts and unions have questioned why so few homes are rated substandard, given the commission found one in three residents experience neglect, abuse or poor care; and how homes on the non-compliance register manage ratings of three stars and above.

If you are having issues or concerns with your aged care, call OPAN on 1800 700 600. The National Dementia Helpline is also available on 1800 100 500.

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Aged care in the home improves lives and saves money. So why are Australians being made to wait?

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‘If you ignore people at a point where they really need some of that earlier intervention … then you’re up for a higher cost,’ says expert

Twenty years ago, Patrick Evans beat cancer. Now aged 76, the repercussions of the radiation treatment that helped him are setting in.

“He has very serious aspiration and that causes him pneumonia and that lands him in hospital on a regular basis,” his wife, Inda, said. “He had a very bad episode last year and was basically in a life or death situation.”

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Australia’s health watchdog warns patients are being overprescribed psychotropic medication

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Royal commissions into disability and aged care found ‘a fundamental problem’ with how the drugs were used

Glenda Parkin was 56 when she was diagnosed with younger-onset dementia, a rare visual variant of Alzheimer’s disease known as posterior cortical atrophy. She became functionally blind and her ability to perceive the world around her gradually deteriorated.

While the diagnosis forced Parkin to retire at the zenith of her career as a school principal in Perth, losing her abilities to read and write alongside other basic capabilities, she carried on a fulfilling life, according to her husband, Bronte, her carer for 10 years.

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Many aged care workers may wait until 2026 for full pay increase as Albanese government requests phased implementation

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Commonwealth requests Fair Work Commission phase in full 23% increase over two years to prevent workforce shortages elsewhere

Aged care workers should wait until January 2026 for the full 23% pay rise ordered by the Fair Work Commission, according to the Albanese government.

The commonwealth has requested that the commission phase in the increase over two years, from January 2025 and 2026, to prevent “large one-off wage increases” that would add to workforce shortages elsewhere in the economy.

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Aged care workers to get 23% average pay rise as union heralds move as ‘one of the best outcomes’ ever achieved

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Health Services Union secretary says new benchmark pay rate will make sector competitive with public health system

Aged care workers will receive an average pay rise of 23% after the Fair Work Commission delivered its decision in a long-running work value case.

The commission’s expert panel said those involved in direct care including nurses and home care workers deserved pay rises “substantially” higher than the interim 15% pay rise ordered in November 2022.

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New online tool reveals how much Australian aged care homes spend on food, care and services

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Anika Wells says ‘Dollars to Care’ tool which allows users to compare homes on key metrics will ‘hold providers to account’

Aged care residents and their families will be able to see exactly how their home spends their money on food, care and services through a new online tool the Albanese government says will hold providers to account for how they spend taxpayer money.

The government is also using increased levels of data about aged care homes to monitor whether providers are passing on the full wage rise granted to staff by the federal government.

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More than 1,000 cases of neglect reported each month in Australia’s aged care homes

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Regulator worried about ‘concerning spike’ in neglect cases, which advocates say are the result of workforce shortages

More than 1,000 cases of neglect are being reported in residential aged care homes each month, prompting a warning from the sector’s regulator.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) has flagged “a concerning spike” in neglect cases over the past 12 months and raised concerns about inadequate care standards.

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Consultants reported more than 520 conflicts of interest during audit of Australian aged care

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Commissioner says high number of real, potential or perceived declarations reflects a ‘robust conflict management processes’ but union says figure is ‘staggering’

Four consultancy firms reported more than 520 real, potential or perceived conflicts of interest while being paid more than $40m to audit the safety and quality of aged care homes over two years.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) last year revealed some of the audits were rejected as they did not meet standards set by the federal government, which needed to launch a specialist unit to support the consultants and improve their work.

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Elderly man released on bail after alleged assault on 87-year-old woman in Sydney aged care home

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William John Newbold, 80, was arrested on Friday and charged with aggravated sexual assault

An 80-year-old man charged with sexually assaulting an 87-year-old woman in a Sydney aged care home has been released on bail.

William John Newbold was arrested on Friday and initially refused bail.

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Consultancy firms paid $40m to review safety of aged care homes did not meet government standards

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KPMG was among the four firms to have had reports rejected, a Senate inquiry heard, putting pressure on abandoning future outsourcing altogether

Four consultancy firms that were paid more than $40m to audit quality and safety in aged care homes have had reports rejected because they did not meet the standard required by the federal government.

The aged care quality and safety commissioner, Janet Anderson, has told a Senate inquiry the firms were “held to account” for their work and that there is an ongoing review about whether to rely on them as heavily in the future.

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Australia’s taxes ‘inadequate’ for ‘adequate services’, former secretary of finance warns

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Michael Keating to call for revenue review at Australia Institute summit as Labor provides update on multinational tax avoidance

Australia’s taxes are “inadequate” to finance government responsibilities including for aged care and defence, a former head of the finance department has warned.

Michael Keating, the secretary of the Department of Finance from 1986 to 1991, will call for a review of revenue at the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute’s revenue summit on Friday. The call is aimed at sparking debate about methods to close the tax gap including congestion charging, lifting and broadening the goods and services tax and adjusting the stage-three income tax cuts.

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Two-thirds of Australia’s aged care safety inspections outsourced to consultants

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Exclusive: Watchdog contracted third-party providers to conduct audits despite a review warning it was a ‘significant risk’

More than two-thirds of safety and quality inspections at aged care homes have been outsourced to consultancy firms, despite warnings this presented a “significant risk” and that some contractors underestimated the standards of work required.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSA) audits residential facilities to ensure they are meeting mandated standards. Since 2021, four firms have been paid more than $40m for this work, which includes conducting interviews and searches.

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Australia’s population to grow at slowest rate since federation, intergenerational report forecasts

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Australians are expected to live longer and remain healthier to an older age, while having fewer children over the next 40 years

Australia’s population is forecast to grow at its slowest rate since federation, the latest intergenerational report from Treasury has found.

The report, which forecasts what the next four decades will look like, has found population growth is projected to slow to an annual average of 1.1% over the next 40 years, compared to 1.4% over the past four decades.

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PwC did not disclose any conflicts of interest before winning aged care auditing contract

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Consulting firm’s contract to audit the Morrison government’s workforce bonus program remains suspended, department confirms

PwC Australia did not disclose any real or perceived conflicts of interest to the federal government before it was awarded a $2.3m aged care contract that has been suspended since June amid a continuing investigation.

The firm was contracted by the Department of Health and Aged Care to audit the Morrison government’s workforce bonus program, which provided two pre-election payments in 2022 worth up to $800 to attract and retain staff in the struggling aged care sector.

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NSW police removed mention of Taser and knife from first statement about Clare Nowland

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The 95-year-old died after she was Tasered during a confrontation with police at a nursing home in Cooma in May

Documents show New South Wales police removed mention of paramedics, a knife and a Taser in their first statement about the Tasering of a 95-year-old grandmother.

Clare Nowland was Tasered during a confrontation with police while walking with a frame and holding a steak knife at the Yallambee Lodge in Cooma on 17 May, according to subsequent police statements.

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Labor talks up possible aged care levy as minister says Australians willing to pay for more ‘choice’

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Anika Wells says taskforce will include consideration of levies but government ‘still not advocating any particular proposal’

The aged care minister, Anika Wells, says Australians want more “choice” on aged care and would be prepared to pay for it, as the government mulls the introduction of a user-pays system.

Wells told ABC’s Insiders the Albanese government’s position on aged care was consistent, playing down calls for a levy before the election because it was “still not advocating any particular proposal”, merely establishing a taskforce which will consider how to make aged care sustainable.

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Australia news live: budget and minimum wage hike not to blame for rising interest rates, Chalmers says

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Treasurer points finger at inflation, adding ‘people are under pressure and the global economic conditions are not helping either’. Follow live

Parts of Victoria and South Australia are being warned to expect heavy rainfall today.

The heavy rain that’s already hit Western Australia is sweeping across the country, with South Australia’s Riverland and Murraylands warned to brace for heavy rainfall to last until Friday.

We want to see productivity get going. We have had the worst decade, I think, in productivity growth in the last 60 years in the previous decade so there’s a lot of work to do. We can’t turn that around in one year.

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