The scenes broadcasted last Monday night on ABC’s investigative program, Four Corners and the stories carers and family members of elderly residents of aged care facilities shared on the program, shocked Australia.

If the ultimate test for a society is the way it cares for its elderly and other vulnerable members, the revelations from staff, family members and some elderly in residential care, on Monday night (with more to come next Monday) is a proof that we have failed it.

Exposed in the program, the cruelty towards elderly residents of nursing homes, the shocking neglect some of them had endured and the conditions that they had to live under during the last days of their lives, as a result of systemic failures in the aged care residential sector, have been ‘the major drive’ behind PM Scott Morrison’s decision to announce a Royal Commission into Aged Care. Let’s not forget that as recently as a month ago, Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt rebuffed the need for such an inquiry.

The $75 million Royal Commission will examine all aspects of aged care provision in Australia within the private and the not-for-profit sector; the inquiry will commence before the end of the year and it will be similar in nature to that currently being conducted into the financial services sector.

Currently 1.3 million senior Australians access some form of aged care help, with 240,000 living in residential care. Some 84,000 people rely on in-home care packages with the current demand for home care packages to outstrip supply, as more than 100,000 seniors are still waiting for assistance.

The last couple of years, stories about kerosene baths to elderly residents, incidents of sexual assaults, hidden camera footage showing assault and neglect have come to the fore, but the government kept on denying that the sector was in crisis. Individuals were prosecuted in some cases, but the industry maintained that the problem is not systemic while admitting that there are some “rogue” providers out there. Calls to mandatory staff-to-resident ratio were also dismissed as unnecessary from the sector.

Hours after the government’s announcement of the Royal Commission and before the screening of the Four Corners program, the fear of what an inquiry might unveil had rocked the private sector of the industry with Australian aged care stocks tumbling by a staggering 18 per cent on average.

By Monday end, Japara Healthcare’s stocks fell by 21 per cent to a low of $1.32, Estia’s Health shed 18.9 per cent to reach a low of $2.39 and Regis shares fell by 17 per cent down at $3.00 wiping $188 million off its market value.

PM Scott Morrison announcing the Royal Commission has prepared the nation saying that “bruising” information will surface from the enquiry into the nation’s $20 billion ailing aged care industry.

Some of that ‘bruising’ and appalling information surfaced hours later on our screens, with carers admitting that it was humanly impossible for them to bathe, dress and get a frail elderly person ready for breakfast in just six minutes, as they are required to do, addressing the issue of the poor staff to resident ratio.

“Some people get really depressed and you have a resident saying, ‘Can you give me a pill to kill me?’

“They just want to die and you don’t have five minutes to spend sitting there with them. We were told not to tell the residents if we were short staffed, which is really common, because they’d find that distressing,” Katrina Legzdins an enrolled nurse said on the program.

“Every facility I worked at really felt like they were understaffed. What will often happen when staff are under pressure is they might not shower residents, they might just wash them – or they might not even wash them. Sometimes they might just change the clothes, spray them with deodorant and then just write that they’ve had a shower,” said Rebecca De Haan, a personal carer with 10 years’ experience. She also revealed that, as a result of the short staffed situation some residents, especially those with dementia, sometimes were not even fed for a day.

“There were people that were in bed that needed to be fully fed, they couldn’t feed themselves at all, and you’d see staff members just quickly going to offer the resident a bit of food. If they didn’t take it immediately, [the staff would] just go out and ditch the lunch. That was really common. You can see these people are so hungry,” she added.

Also reported, some nursing homes spent merely $6 a day per resident on food. The industry’s body -Leading Age Services Australia (LASA)- chief executive Sean Rooney appeared in the program and was questioned about both the staff-to-patient ratio and whether the $6 per day food expense is appropriate.

Mr Rooney dismissed the need for mandatory staff-to resident ratio and reasoned the $6 per day for food by saying that aged residents have “a low nutritional requirement”.

At present, the industry (private and not-for profit sector) holds some $25 billion in refundable accommodation deposits, money that earns it a very healthy interest and just last financial year the federal government contribution to the care of residents reached the mark of $12 billion.

FRONDITHA WELCOMES THE ROYAL COMMISSION 

George Lekakis, CEO of Fronditha Care, speaking to Neos Kosmos about the latest developments welcomed the Royal Commission.

“Unfortunately we never hear or read about some of the good things that happen in aged care, or of the stories about outstanding, caring and dedicated staff,” he said.

Mr Lekakis repeated the position of the sector saying that he didn’t think that the phenomenon of elderly neglect and abuse was widespread.

“There will be aged care providers out there who are not compliant and this needs to be addressed. There are incidents that occur and we need to continue to improve our systems and make them robust enough to prevent or deal with persons who are not suitable working in the industry” he said implying that there is no systemic issue but more of a quality of staff issue.

“Our values are to respect, care and love our elderly and respond to their needs. These should be the values of the entire industry and more importantly the whole of our society. The reporting systems in place in aged care are working and it’s about ensuring that the standards of care are followed. Any other measures that will further minimise the risk of elder abuse would be welcomed”.

Mr Lekakis was in agreement with LASA’s CEO Sean Rooney, saying that there is no need for mandatory staff-to-patients ratio.

“I agree with Sean Rooney and Minister Wyatt that staff-to-resident ratio’s is not the answer to some of the problems highlighted in aged care. It is critical that the level of resident care should be the measure that will dictate the number of qualified staff to be rostered on each shift. This should be reflected in the funding formulas. Other factors need to be taken into consideration: language needs, care required for residents with dementia, falls risks, challenging behaviours etc. Ongoing education and professional development programs for staff are also important,” Mr Lekakis said, stressing that “upskilling is of critical importance” for the workforce of the industry.

In conclusion, Mr Lekakis disclosed that Fronditha Care will contribute to the Royal Commission and put forward proposals for further improvement in the sector.