Hundreds of Australian aged care residents died miserable deaths in January as a consequence of the Morrison government’s staggering failures on aged care regulation, the rollout of booster shots and its refusal to address the aged care workforce crisis.
The numbers are horrific, and a national disgrace: according to the government’s own figures, 389 aged care residents have perished as a result of COVID in January alone — far more than the total for 2021 — 282 — and already more than half the 2020 total which was dominated by another outbreak in aged care facilities in Victoria.
Many of the dead spent their last days alone and unable to see family because of widespread lockdowns: 1261 facilities now have outbreaks, up from just under 1200 a week earlier, but outbreaks in aged care case residential numbers have surged to more than 9600, compared with 7800 a week earlier, indicating many more deaths to come.
The lockdowns have been exacerbated by widespread critical staff shortages due to community infection, with facilities unable to have staff come to work if they are close contacts without rapid antigen tests, which have been slow to reach the sector. Both unions and providers have said residents are going without basic help like showering.
They joined forces a fortnight ago to issue a plea for defence force assistance from the federal government, but no help has been forthcoming — the federal government has merely “discussed” the plea for assistance with the sector.
Worse, the Morrison government has admitted to the sector that its booster rollout to aged care facilities is running behind schedule by at least a week; several hundreds facilities have yet to receive even one.
The delay will cost scores — perhaps hundreds — of lives. Evidence from New South Wales is that the overwhelming majority of deceased aged care COVID victims had not received booster shots.
Literally every Commonwealth response to the pandemic within its aged care responsibility has been bungled and delayed, and the same disastrous errors have been repeated: the original vaccination rollout; the booster rollout; RAT supplies; PPE supplies; interventions by the Commonwealth aged care quality regulator, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
Remarkably, the commission’s quality assessment and monitoring activities — primarily infection control spot checks — fell dramatically in late 2021. Just 76 were carried out in November, and so far in January just 119 site visits have been conducted, or just over a third of the number of visits this time last year.
The government also failed to respond to the aged care royal commission COVID report recommendation to provide additional funding so that aged care residents could continue to receive visitors. And it has failed to adopt the main royal commission recommendation to support the current Fair Work Commission case for a substantial pay increase to retain aged care workers in an increasingly tight labour market — something Labor’s Anthony Albanese committed to do at the weekend.
Throughout the entire crisis, a curious lack of urgency and focus has characterised the government’s aged care policy, led by its ineffectual and at times confused and ill-informed minister Richard Colbeck, and a quality regulator marked by passivity.
This has now been exposed as lethal negligence as COVID rages through hundreds of facilities and leaves a battered sector begging for soldiers to be sent in to help.
Whatever ministerial flaws, ineffective bureaucracy or supply chain problems have occurred previously, that hundreds of seniors are dying two years into a pandemic due to persistent government failure is a national tragedy that lies at the feet of Colbeck, his portfolio minister Greg Hunt and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
There is no excuse for, no explaining away, no dodging, this disaster. The blood of the dead is on their hands. And the grisly toll of their incompetence grows more horrific each day.
Colbeck is an absolute disgrace. What a parasite he is and he must resign.
The problems in aged-care started with John Howard, who white-anted so much of Australia’s social and governance framework. We used to call them nursing homes until Howard’s deregulation allowed spivvy for-profits to scrap the nurses and use accommodation bonds as honey-pots for real estate development. it has been downhill ever since.
But nothing excuses Morrison leaving Colbeck in charge of our vulnerable aged after Colbeck proved his total, comprehensive and abysmal uselessness in 2020-21. At what point does this become culpable homicide – failing to provide the necessities of life?
Agreed.
Me too. Colbeck is a total disgrace, and appears to lack anything resembling a conscience. Unfortunately I don’t believe he is a Tasmanian senator up for re-election. If he was I suspect he would be trounced. And deservedly so. However I sincerely hope Abetz is obliterated and he IS up for re-election.
The Lying Rodent’s Aged Care Act of ’97 (otherwise known as “Howard’s Aged C-Act”) – “off-set” by sanga-and-a-milk-shake tax cuts – deemed ‘enough to pay for’ all those little necessities of life, from education, to health, to dental, to aged care etc etc etc – an act of a government “getting small” to get out of our lives, and leaving us to it/fend for ourselves….
Paid for by those “Great Economic managers” Howard and Costello – micturating the proceeds from the mining boom up the wall of political expediency – to buy votes.
Australia is ageist. Tony Abbott did not care. People past their use-by date, as far as he was concerned. The LNP thinks people who are not economically active are worthless.
Those citizens who are ‘past their use-by date’ do (usually) get to vote. When will LNP realise this?
On the other hand the aged don’t vote so much after they’re dead. I doubt anyone in the Morrison Gang is all that bothered about Colbeck thinning out the (economically unproductive) aged. But I bet they wish he’d do it more quietly. All this squawking must be a bit unsettling.
You do wonder if this is not a deliberate ploy to reduce aged care spending as the LNP try to claw their way back to the black. State sanctioned murder?
Not just to reduce aged care funding, but to also reduce the “burden” aged pensioners are on the budget.
I’ve also heard similar suggestions.
Exactly!
But he’s thinning out the very voters who are more likely to vote for the Coalition. Perhaps he failed to realise that. I’m heartened by the increasing number of people I’m speaking with or hearing about who have always voted Liberal previously, but are so disgusted and appalled by Morrison et al that they will be voting Labor this time.
Yes, killing Coalition voters would be unhelpful for the Morrison Gang. If they’ve thought about that, there are two ways they might justify what they’re doing to this group
Does anyone know if there is evidence for the second point, or even if its not true, any evidence the Coalition believes it?
in the past they have all rallied round the Conservative cause – WHY I have no idea!
Not the ones who die
“at times confused and ill-informed minister Richard Colbeck”
Well, stop asking him about aged care policy! That’s just typical journo ‘gotcha’ trickery. Ask him about the cricket and you’ll get a sensible answer.
Colbeck should view the aged care death toll as a ‘score’. That may encourage him to pay some attention to the crisis.
In Crickety parlance, ‘What’s the score, and how many down?’
Are you sure of that ?
Not sure exactly, but going on balance of probabilities?
I personally think this Government has thrown in the towel and is resigned to it’s demise.
I think it is sacrificing the aged and elderly (infirm) on it’s alter of ineptness.
We have a train wreck that is just covering up it’s mistakes.
A sad inditment on the elderly who have done the hard yards over the years and who have family out there whom cannot visit due to enforced restrictions, stsff whom are unable to cope due to the burden of staff shortsges also due to staff falling sick.
And yet where was the Minister for aged care?
Just shows how this Government has thrown in the towel and sacrificed the people who built this country on hard work and whom payed taxes to support inept Governments.
And yet we have people out there who cannot see it, these same people who probabably do not have elderly or friends on nursing homes or maybe they have them in the top class homes, these idiots are still supporting this inept circus of fools,!