Beware the Nursing Home Industry’s ‘Grand Plan’

19 July 2010

CPSA is warning Australians not to get too smitten with the recently launched ‘Grand Plan’ for aged care.

“While a number of the initiatives in the plan look good on paper, the fact that the coalition behind it is made up of the nation’s nursing industry peak bodies has given us cause for concern,” said Antoine Mangion, CPSA Policy/Research Officer.

“The nursing home industry gets the ball rolling with the oft-used tactic of calling for more funding. They want increased Government funding and they want greater flexibility in being able to charge more to residents ‘who can afford it’, including bonds on all nursing home places.

“Bonds are not the answer. They put undue financial and emotional pressure on nursing home entrants and their families. Very large bonds, now averaging more than $213,000, are being paid to nursing homes, with the largest going to private, profit-based companies.

“Despite their calls for more funding, this industry continues to oppose funding transparency and published auditing of spending. Given that Government funding for aged care will exceed $10 billion in the coming year, nursing home providers should not be able to continue to refuse showing how and where they are spending tax-payer money.

“Recent incidents also shed light on how the plan falls short for both nurses and residents. The sanctioning of two NSW homes in recent weeks, Fairfield Nursing Home and Daintree Aged Care in Albion Park, as well as the sanctioning of Crest Nursing Home in Annandale following the fallout from the Sunday Telegraph’s expose – all for inadequate care and staffing issues – are a sobering reminder of how many older Australians are forced to live.

“CPSA continues its call for mandatory nurse-to-resident ratios which takes into consideration the need for an appropriate skills mix as well as the level of care needed by the resident.

“While the industry states that more needs to be done to increase the number of nurses coming into the sector, no amount of working with Government and unions, no amount of money for wage increases will work if nurses are worked to the bone with homes employing the bare minimum of staff.

“Australia’s nursing homes are falling far short of what people need and want. They are becoming bigger institutions with fewer and more overworked staff and sicker and more vulnerable residents.

“Private profit-based companies currently account for 34.1 per cent of beds across the country. Despite the calls for more funding they are proof that, if a nursing home cares more for the bottom line than the welfare of residents and the conditions of staff, care can be quite a profitable business. There are some major players in the sector, including AMP Capital, Macquarie Bank and Lend Lease, to name a few. These corporations don’t run a charity. If they are not a making a tidy sum out of their investments, they would be selling up and shipping out.

“In this election campaign, CPSA is calling for all parties to make aged care a centrepiece of their policy platform. We want to see which parties care by informing the public on how they will ensure care is affordable and accessible, that nurse-to-resident ratios are introduced to ensure appropriate nursing levels and that providers are accountable for the funding they receive and the care they are charged with providing. Let’s make life worth living in nursing homes.”

Media contact: 0410 612 182

Charmaine Crowe
Policy Coordinator
Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association (CPSA)
Level 9, 28 Foveaux Street Surry Hills NSW, 2010
Phone (02) 9281 3588
Mob 0410 612 182
Fax (02) 9281 9716