Commissioners warn nursing homes and government not to try and deter whistleblowers

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

There has been “a rising torrent of concern that the system is faltering” and may not be fit for purpose, the first hearing of the aged care royal commission has been told.

Commissioners Richard Tracey and Lynelle Briggs outlined how the inquiry would operate on Friday morning, in a hearing that lasted just over an hour.

Briggs acknowledged there were many positive examples of high-quality care within the sector.

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Tracey said the royal commission into aged care quality and safety was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” for the nation to create a better system that aligned with community expectations.

“The hallmark of a civilised society is how it treats its most vulnerable people and our elderly are often amongst our most physically, emotionally and financially vulnerable,” he said.

The hearing acknowledged that a new regulation regime and new watchdog, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission started in January.

He encouraged people to make public submissions and emphasised they could be made lodged anonymously. The deadline is mid-year.

Tracey said the commission would be “gravely concerned” if aged care providers or government bodies were telling staff or would-be whistleblowers not to assist the inquiry or to withhold information.

“It would be unlawful for an employer to take punitive action against an employee or former employee who has assisted us,” he said.

“It is a criminal offence to injure a person who has appeared as a witness or produced a document or given information or a statement … suing someone would almost certainly fall within this prohibition against injury.”

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, established the inquiry last year in response to damning incidents of neglect, abuse and negligence in nursing homes across the country.

Counsel assisting Peter Gray said the commission had received more than 300 public submissions since Christmas Eve and 81% concerned provision of care in residential facilities, with staff ratios and substandard care the most common themes.

The federal health department has also passed on 5,000 submissions it received before the commission’s terms of reference were set.

Aged care workers and family members with loved ones in nursing homes are backing a push to increase staff numbers in facilities.

But the aged care minister, Ken Wyatt, ruled out changes before the royal commission wraps up next year, saying he wanted “discussions to evolve”.

“One of the challenges that we have with establishing staffing ratios is we have providers in rural, regional and remote Australia who struggle to get the staff they need. In fact, they fly them in and fly them out, which is high cost,” Wyatt told ABC TV on Friday. “I don’t want to disadvantage that group.”

Labor’s aged care spokeswoman, Julie Collins, indicated the opposition was more inclined to act early on staff ratios.

“We think there aren’t enough staff,” she told reporters in Hobart on Friday.

“We want to make sure they are trained properly and have appropriate qualifications and that they’re paid well.”

On the eve of the commission’s first hearing, Wyatt announced a crackdown on the use of chemical and physical restraints in nursing homes.

There are no rules in Australia governing the use of restraints in aged care facilities, unlike the US, Britain and Europe.

“The use of antipsychotic medicines must be a clinical decision made by medical practitioners with the care recipient, and their carer or family involved at all times,” Wyatt said.

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“Incidents of over use of physical and chemical restraint will not be tolerated and draft changes to regulations are expected to be released within weeks.”

The aged care industry body Aged and Community Services Australia said it did not fear the scrutiny of the royal commission.

“We have zero tolerance for abuse and neglect where it occurs, and we are committed to continuous improvement to address problems as they arise,” its chief executive Pat Sparrow said.

The commission’s final report deadline is 30 April next year.