More than 6,500 reports of understaffing and unsafe conditions in Australia’s aged care sector, including hundreds of reports of resident injuries, will be handed to the regulator on Wednesday.
The reports, from United Workers Union (UWU) whistleblower site Aged Care Watch, identified thousands of instances of aged care residents’ safety suffering due to unfilled shifts and understaffing.
Some 2,300 reports named a “distressed resident”, while 1,900 named a resident left soiled for an “extended period” and 600 said a resident was injured due to lack of care.
The findings will be delivered to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on Wednesday.
UWU aged care director Carolyn Smith said the findings, gathered from workers, family members and care residents, were only the “tip of the iceberg”.
“These reports come from every state of Australia and show the inside story of the aged care crisis that continues to impact the care of aged care residents,” she said.
“It’s a sad fact that even before Covid aged care was a shambles and now it’s even worse.
“The accounts from inside aged care facilities are horrifying.”
Aged care workers describe instances of incontinence pads unchanged for 16 hours, wounds left untreated and weight loss due to residents not being helped with their food.
Some 2,900 reports named a “stressed staff member” due to understaffing, with almost 10,000 unfilled shifts and more than 800 personal accounts of unsafe incidents resulting from lack of care time.
“These firsthand accounts from aged care workers provide extensive further evidence of the massive failure of the federal government in residential aged care,” Smith said.
“The failures … also show why thousands of aged care workers feel they have no option but to go on strike and hold their employers accountable.”
Aged care workers across Australia voted last week to take industrial action over acute staff shortages and continuing low rates of pay hitting the sector.
Members at five aged care providers collectively employing 7,000 workers voted overwhelmingly in favour of the industrial action, likely to take place prior to the 21 May election.
One aged care worker in the hospitality sector, based in Western Australia, said in the report they spent a large percentage of their shift running from the kitchen to answer cries for help from residents.
“There might be two to three [carers] on one wing for up to 48 residents,” they said. “I have found residents on the floor and no one about to come help them.”
Another aged care worker based in South Australia said they were suffering burnout, stress and anxiety due to the uncertainty of staffing.
“Many hospitality shifts are unfilled, training is absolutely minimal for new staff, agency is regularly unavailable,” they said.
“My colleague recently was hurt due to working above and beyond an acceptable workload to compensate.
“My mental health has suffered terribly and I’m now at breaking point.”
Both major parties have made major election pledges to better fund the sector including to uphold any pay rise awarded by the Fair Work Commission, which is currently hearing a claim to lift the pay of aged care workers 25% above the award.
Labor has promised to spend $2.5bn on aged care including a 24-hour registered onsite nurse in every facility. In response to the aged care royal commission, the Coalition vowed to boost the number of home care packages and deliver aged care workers an $800 bonus.
