Labor has turned up the pressure on the government’s handling of aged care, issuing an eight point plan for the embattled sector and putting aged care reform at the top of the political agenda.
In an address to the Press Club on Thursday, opposition leader Anthony Albanese MP said the government had failed to adequately prepare the aged care sector for the pandemic and “failed to protect” older Australians.
“Time and again, this government has been warned about the threat the coronavirus posed to aged care. Time and again those warnings have been neglected,” he said.
“None of what is going wrong just crept up on us. This government was warned by experts that our already troubled aged care system was vulnerable to the pandemic.”
“A calamity is unfolding before our eyes,” he said.
It was of “no comfort” to be told by the government that 97 per cent of aged care facilities had no COVID-19 cases, Mr Albanese said.
“In the absence of a government plan, here are eight points the Government could consider,” Mr Albanese suggested in a not-so-subtle dig at the government.
The eight Labor proposals are as follows.
The government has been under attack in the last fortnight after counsel assisting the Royal Commission, Peter Rozen QC, heavily criticised the government for failing to ‘plan’ for the COVID-19 crisis.
Of course, Labor’s eight bullet points do not equate to a comprehensive plan to beat the pandemic, but the opposition’s focus on aged care sets the scene for a political battle.
With the final findings and recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety due to be handed down in February 2021, there is enough time between then and the next election for the government to respond, and the electorate will be looking for meaningful reform and solid improvements in aged care. It won’t be an easy task.
Aged care minister Richard Colbeck’s position has already been severely weakened this week after he could not tell a senate inquiry how many aged care residents have died from COVID-19.
He addressed the senate on Thursday to apologise. “There have been missteps,” he said.
“I have been working every day with the [aged] care sector, providers, staff and families to ensure that these people in care, those who first cared for us, received the highest level of protection,” Senator Colbeck said.
“For this, I am accountable,” he said.
There are still more than 1,900 COVID-19 cases in aged care services in Australia, the vast majority in Victoria, and doubtless dozens, if not hundreds more deaths lie ahead. There are 116 homes with outbreaks, and 72 homes with AUSMAT teams assisting. Already, 373 aged care residents have died.
The government is no doubt under enormous pressure just coping with the realities of the pandemic in aged care. Now Labor is also cranking up the heat on the political front too.
aged care staffing ‘gov accepted’ numbers is ridiculous – they are run off their feet, left feeling under appreciated and their residents neglected – DOUBLE IT
All nursing homes have plans for gastro and flu outbreaksYes this is on a bigger scale but every home should know how to react in an outbreak .You cannot blame anyone but the homes themselves,they did not follow procedures correctly ,knowing the virus was here they still kept going as normal .Labor will fix nothing
It is obvious Both Labour, Liberal and most independents have little knowledge of how aged care works. where we are now is the product of more than 30 years where all levels pf government have had an opportunity to improve aged care for the well being of our elderly , and all have failed.
The first thing that needs to happen before we can see any improvement is that all of Aged and Healthcare need to come under the control of one level of Government. This pandemic has only highlighted the deficiencies of having two the two levels of responsibility.
First they have got to understand that aged care is not acute care and therefore cannot be expected to operate the same in a pandemic.
Aged care certainly has it’s deficiencies and all too obvious without a Royal Commission, however the main opportunity to save lives at this time in aged care relies in the disease NOT being introduced.
The current virus did not originate in nursing homes.
There are so many obvious common sense issues here that cannot be fixed by a “gab fest”, we need ACTION by working together.
This is not going to happen from the advice of any politician. and you would have to say there have been huge failings in our health public service.
Funny no mention of increased wages in the labour 8 point plan.Until that happens no one in their right mind will stick with this job.