Jun 21, 2021

Cleaners help care for dementia patients in understaffed regional hospital

Cleaners help dementia patients

Last week, the hearing was presented with accounts of “chronic, inadequate underfunding”, difficulties attracting and retaining staff in the north-eastern NSW hospital, and the downgrading of facilities and services.

Former nurse and now president of the Manning Great Lakes Community Health Action Group, Eddie Wood, told the inquiry Taree’s services began to decline after they joined Hunter New England.

Staff had become “demoralised” and were leaving their jobs, a situation he said was “atrocious”, according to a report in The Newcastle Herald.

Manning Hospital’s emergency department was short seven staff, with staffing levels in “dire straits”.

“They have also been asked on the wards to actually sit and monitor the dementia patients because we no longer have a 16-bed dementia ward,” he said.

Hunter New England Health chief, Michael DiRienzo, said later in the day he did not believe cleaners at Manning Base Hospital were looking after dementia patients.

“I’ll need to follow it up, but I don’t believe the cleaners do that. 

“And if they were I would know because I would assume the cleaners themselves would want to bring that to our attention,” he said.

The inquiry will continue this week.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

NDIS rollout to commence in Brisbane

The National Disability Insurance Scheme will commence rollout in Brisbane on July 1 this year, bringing relief to the 18.3 per cent of people with a disability living in Queensland’s capital (ABS 2015). Just Better Care Brisbane North owner Susanne Jones said the rollout would be a welcomed arrival for people living with disability, as... Read More

The independent living products you didn’t expect to find at Kmart

It was recently brought to our attention by a reader that Kmart had introduced a new range of independent living assistance tools. Home care items at affordable prices made accessible to anyone who might have a need for them. Read More

Pitfalls In The New Home Care Reforms, As Told By Frustrated Family Member

When Consumer Directed Care was introduced, it promised more choice and control to the consumers who were using home care services. In late February, when the Home Packages Reforms came into effect, the health department released more than 22,000 packages to people who were eligible.   By making the packages more consumer controlled, a person... Read More
Advertisement