GABRIEL Fowler's story ("Aged care nightmare", Newcastle Herald 18/4), paints a very gloomy picture of conditions in aged care facilities from the Central Coast to Taree. My wife is in an aged care home in Mayfield and has been a resident since October 2022.
Our experience has been of a well-run facility with caring staff who look after residents very well. The home is rated as four stars, putting it among the one third of homes that are four or five stars in Australia.
This means that of the 2558 aged care homes in Australia, the vast majority (2335) are rated as three, four or five stars giving them an acceptable, good or excellent rating. Only 223 homes nationally fall into the one or two star category and need improvement. So, let us not condemn the industry because of a minority of outliers.
I believe some of the problems quoted in the story are problems created by the limited number of GPs who will visit nursing homes. I know of people who have lost their GP when they enter a home because their GP will not visit them there. This is not the fault of the nursing home; it simply reflects the shortage of GPs and the fact that many medical students want to train to be specialists and not enter general practice.
While many people believe they will never enter a nursing home, the sad reality is that for about 10 per cent of the population they have no choice.
John Davies, Newcastle East
Squeeze is on for whole sector
GABRIEL Fowler's article points to Aged Care Quality Commission issues with a range of matters pointing to long term systemic issues with aged care, ("Aged care nightmare", Herald 18/4).
Aged Care is a highly complex business with detailed treatment programs, most of which need high standards of care.
Most aged care facilities have grown through well-meaning community groups however additional years of life expectancy have increased with outstanding pharmaceutical and medical care which is extremely well funded. Sadly, aged care has not received the same government money, care or consideration.
Over 70 per cent of aged care facilities are losing money, with the royal commission calling for increased staffing and care expectations. The regulators say rightly we have to regulate and have oversight of facilities, which is most appropriate. The aged care system has been imploding for many years and will continue which is an absolute blight on Australian culture. There are in the vicinity of 200,000 in aged care with a similar number with assisted care. Isn't it time for a voice for the elderly all families are affected by this debacle? Blaming aged care operators will only hasten the sector's demise.
Grahame Danaher, Coal Point
Heart of the problem is clear
AS I opened my copy of the Herald, I was hopeful of finding some constructive suggestions about the problems of the care of my fellow aged in the Hunter area. The royal commission had reported extensively on the neglect that the Morrison coalition government had ignored for decades, ("Aged care nightmare", Herald, 18/4). However, I thought the recent article reiterated the problems again without any constructive suggestions for remedies.
As the Hunter-Mid North Coast has become one of the nation's most popular areas for retirement, it is inevitable that the growth of the aged care industry would follow. However, as the royal commission revealed, coalition governments for decades ignored the growing problems in favour of waiting for the market to solve the problem. Now the industry is facing the consequences of the pandemic with very low unemployment, compounding the government failure to plan for the growth needed in the workforce.
From reading Fowler's article, it is obvious the bulk of the problems of lack of care is related to lack of staff. This is aggravated by the care homes not being funded to pay staff a wage that is competitive to what is being offered in the hospitality and retail industries. I know of a lady who left the care industry after 15 years to work in retail at $30 per hour compared with $23 in the care home.
I agree with the suggestion that aged care should have a dedicated minister. It is obvious that going to the World Cup is much more interesting than visiting aged care facilities, but the problems of caring for our aged and in most cases sick parents is much more important than getting a photo with some tournament's winners.
The abuse and neglect of our aged will never change until we and our governments decide that the care of the aged is as important as the care our parents gave us as children, and it is our responsibility to return that care with love and compassion
Frank Ward, Shoal Bay
Wealth gap's causes fester
CONGRATULATIONS to the Herald. The editorial ("As rich get richer, others lose homes", Herald 17/4), broached the subject of the ever widening wealth gap, bravely providing reasons and a solution.
The evidence provided highlighted the change occurring over the past 20 years. In other words, the situation was initiated by Howard's tax reforms. I blame the GST in particular.
This is an inflationary tax affecting the main salary and wage earners, pensioners and self-funded retirees. I know another reason for the widening gap is an extremely biased and dysfunctional industrial relations system introduced by Howard and not addressed by any successive governments, including Labor. This sore will continue to fester until remediation is activated.
Marvyn Smith, Heddon Greta
Bin claims about dog-waste bags
I'M perplexed. I went to our garbage bin to put in biodegradable dog poo bags, but the bin police had placed a sticker on the lid stating there is a problem with plastic bags in green bins. Our bad. We read up on the way to dispose of dog poo, which said it must go in the red bin. These biodegradable animal waste bags apparently don't break down unless they are exposed to oxygen.
So why is it that all these products marked biodegradable are virtually the same as plastic bags unless exposed to oxygen? We have been trying hard to comply with recycling guidelines, but are we being led astray.
Is this a result of the failure to obtain responsible recycling centres to take this compacted recycled storage? In future we will comply with the sticker's instructions, but how about something is done about the impression that led people to believe these products actually break down in the soil?
Graeme Kime, Cameron Park
Build an argument, not an opinion
I FEAR for the future of Australia when people's opinions continue to deny the facts. Jim Williams opines that to acknowledge First Nations people is simply "a pat on the back for the Prime Minister" (Letters 19/4). Such a shallow and cynical view cannot be a consequence of a quick look at our history, or any awareness of the plight of Indigenous people, or a study of the intent of the Voice.
If you want to deny a Voice, find something substantive to base your argument on, and add a few facts. At the moment the 'no' campaign provides neither, and "keep politics out" is politicking of the worst kind.
Warren Dean, Newcastle East
SHORT TAKES
UPON reading the Herald online article about MANIAX, the new licensed venue where one can throw axes at targets, I couldn't help but ponder the possibility of Newcastle's very small band of moral crusaders labelling the activity of throwing axes while drinking as "alcohol fuelled violence".
Adz Carter, Newcastle
WE have $260 billion for tax cuts for rich people, $10 billion for fuel rebates for mining multinationals, still more billions for posh private schools, half a trillion dollars for underwater killing machines no one wants us to buy, except America and the UK. Yet, we can't afford a modest rise in Jobseeker. After Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison, I think these people have been demonised enough. Anthony Albanese should know this given his Housing Commission roots. Also, we were promised a federal ICAC open to public scrutiny yet we are given the exact opposite. I voted for a progressive, socialist federal government, not Liberal Party lite.
John Lawton, Belmont
STEWART King's comment, (Short Takes, 14/4), raised a matter that should be front and centre of the discussion on the Voice, being "what is the definition of Aboriginality"? The current definition is a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent; who identifies as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person or is accepted as such by the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community. Between the Australian censuses of 2016 and 2021, there has been a significant increase in the number of people identifying as Indigenous. The increase, according to statisticians, is due to people self-identifying to obtain financial and other benefits such as educational and employment preferences without meeting the legal definition. The definition, by any reasonable person's reckoning, lacks indisputable limitation and is open to exploitation. One would think that, as a starting point, a definitive definition of Aboriginality is essential to protect genuine Indigenous heritage.
John Cooper, Charlestown
HOW refreshing to read the common sense piece on the Voice from Jim Williams, ("Keep politics out of Voice vote", Letters, 19/4). He's obviously one of the few who've actually put thought into the ramifications of enshrining forever a divisive policy into our constitution. Contrast this with the childish outbursts from many of the "yes" proponents, many of whom appear to be drowning in white guilt and intend to vote "yes" only to make themselves feel better.
Greg Hunt, Newcastle West
WITH an impressive sidestep, Peter Dolan (Short Takes, 18/4) quotes Peter Dutton, and, in doing so, reminds us that on renewable energy, what the Coalition says is very different from what it does. But does Mr Dolan agree with what Mr Dutton said?
