Aged care providers are facing huge hikes in the cost of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as suppliers look to cash in on the demand for masks, gloves and gowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
One operator tells us they just paid 800% more than they typically would to secure an extra stock of masks.
As we covered here, 65 aged care providers had been granted access to PPE – including gloves, masks, and gowns – from the National Medical Stockpile (NMS) by the Department of Health after being deemed high priority because they either had a confirmed case of COVID-19 or were facing “a severe risk to service provision”.
But other providers who have not experienced an outbreak have been warned of “delays” by the Department because of the increase in demand – and must rely on other sources.
The Federal Government has increased the local production of PPE with Health Minister Greg Hunt announcing last week that 11 million new masks would be delivered to health care workers – including 1.7 million for aged care sector.
However, staff on the ground tell us that even if a resident is only suspected of having COVID-19 and has a test that later proves negative, the amount of PPE being used by staff is “astronomical” during the few days of waiting for the test results.
How long can providers withstand these increased costs?
We predict another six months at most – unless a new sustainable business model is created.
Read DCM publisher Chris Baynes’ argument here.
