Illawarra aged care providers are calling on the Commonwealth Government to help them not only prepare for a COVID-19 outbreak, but to prevent it.
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Mark Sewell - the CEO of Warrigal and also the regional chair for the Aged and Community Services Association - said providers desperately needed financial support to prevent further tragedy.
Nationally, more than 200 residents of aged care homes have died during the pandemic, representing around 60 per cent of Australia's COVID-related deaths.
"We know aged care providers, especially not-for-profits, are under financial stress - in fact 60 per cent of all providers have been running at a deficit for more than 18 months," Mr Sewell said. "This pandemic has placed additional costs on top of that.
"We're wondering why other sectors are receiving much more assistance when aged care staff are on the front line protecting the most vulnerable Australians of all."
Mr Sewell said Illawarra providers including Warrigal had robust COVID plans in place, but it came at a cost.
"We're putting on extra staff, we're stockpiling equipment like face masks and gowns; we're introducing new technology and other measures to ensure our residents get that social interaction safely," he said.
"But these measures are bleeding aged care providers dry, they're all overspending and they're desperate for more nurses, more training, more equipment and more technology."
NSW Labor is also calling for a national plan of action for COVID-19 in aged care, with Whitlam MP Stephen Jones pushing for better co-ordination between state and federal governments.
"I'm confident local aged care providers are doing the best they can in difficult circumstances, but they need more support from the Commonwealth," he said.
"More support for surge capacity (to make more beds available in hospitals), more PPE (personal protective equipment) and training, and more support for pandemic leave to ensure casual staff don't have to come to work when sick due to economic pressures. The workers want to know the government has got their back.
"If infection starts to spread, it's too late - we need to stop the virus coming in in the first place. For instance the Federal Government has a stockpile of PPE which is only handed out to aged care providers once there's an outbreak - that's like handing out sandbags after the floods have gone through."
Mr Sewell said providers were working with Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District management, and was reassured that local hospitals had the "surge capacity" to transfer COVID cases from aged care homes if required.
"People in aged care beds receive just 20 per cent of the funding they would have if they moved to a hospital bed," he said. "There's no doctors in aged care homes, no ventilators. If someone needs medical intervention they need to go to a hospital."
A spokesman for Federal Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said the Commonwealth Government had invested more than $850 million in measures to support aged care during the pandemic.
"This has included specific infection control guidance for residential aged care combined with freely available training for the aged care workforce," he said.
The spokesman said in the event of an outbreak, the government rapidly provided PPE, clinical expertise, and additional skilled workers to aged care homes to support the provision of care and contain transmission.
The Federal Government was also rewarding the nation's aged care workers with a retention bonus worth $234 million. Just over $100 million had been paid to date, with the second payment to be paid from September, he said.
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