Disturbing trend in aged care amid ‘real crisis’

A respected senior GP who specialises in aged care says the Capes industry is facing a major crisis due to blockages in the country health system and lack of workers. Dunsborough-based doctor Andrew Lill told the Times multiple aged-care homes had reduced capacity due to a lack of staff, while a disturbing trend to hospitalise elderly people with nowhere to go was putting strain on the South West health sector. “This is part of what I see as a real crisis,” Dr Lill said. “We’ve got plenty of aged-care beds, it’s just the staff.” The royal commission into the sector didn’t help, he said, because it cast a bad light on underpaid, overworked employees in the sector. “It’s made it very unattractive for people to work,” Dr Lill said. Elderly patients were difficult to manage, with safety risks from dementia patients generally under-appreciated, putting a huge strain on existing workers. Additionally, State Government efforts to attract more doctors and nurses for the mainstream health system risked poaching workers from aged care. “It’s a staff shortage, not just nurses,” Dr Lill said. Aged-care workers “could make more working checkout at Coles” and urgent State Government action was needed, he said. A WA Country Health Service spokesperson said aged-care workers were primarily a Commonwealth responsibility. “We are actively advocating for more timely access to care and the development of strategies to address workforce deficits experienced by aged-care providers,” a spokesperson said. WA Australian Medical Association president Mark Duncan-Smith said challenges in the sector were well known to health chiefs. “WA (Country) Health (Service) should be looking at the whole system including country areas,” Dr Duncan-Smith said. Shadow health minister and Vasse MLA Libby Mettam said relieving the pressure on hospitals would benefit the aged-care sector. “A prominent UK nursing agency has not heard from the State Government, despite many nurses who are keen to relocate,” she said. Baptistcare chief executive Russell Bricknell said the provider worked hard to attract and retain workers, and was operating at full capacity. “We maintain staffing levels through proactive advertising, refer-a-friend employee incentive programs and a sign-on bonus for hard to fill roles,” he said. “Staffing requirements in all our facilities are constantly monitored and when we identify future shift gaps, we boost our rosters with experienced agency staff or by offering additional hours to our part time and casual employees.” At the same time, Baptistcare put out a call for workers on a Facebook community page to encourage fresh recruits. Health Minister Roger Cook’s office did not respond to inquiries.