Member Stories
And still we wait …
Aged Care nurse Jocelyn Hofman criticises government inaction when it comes to fixing the issues in the aged care sector.
Why is the fight for the care, dignity and respect for our older Australians in residential aged care facilities so painfully hard?
There have been 20 years’ worth of reviews and inquiries, and now two years for the royal commission to uncover harrowing personal stories and chronic understaffing. And still we wait.
I find it heart-breaking that it took a global pandemic and a two-year royal commission for the federal government to take notice.
The final report acknowledged the direct link between dangerous levels of understaffing in privately run nursing homes and residents’ neglect. The report recommended that ratios be introduced.
If only the government listened to nurses, who have been campaigning for mandated ratios in the aged care sector long before the COVID pandemic hit our shores.
It is now in the hands of our prime minister to address this chronic understaffing in residential aged care facilities.
Every day we delay, our older Australians will be suffering from neglect. Our older Australians have the right to safe, quality care, just like you and me.