Preliminary findings of a survey of 770 aged care and health workers belonging to the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) has found almost one in five aged care nurses and carers paid for their own Rapid Antigen Test (RAT).
“Aged care is in crisis. Chronic understaffing across the system has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with care staff unable to provide elderly residents with the quality care they need,” ANMF Federal Assistant Secretary, Lori-Anne Sharp said.
“Many of our nurses and carers are telling us that they’re still being forced to source and pay for their own RATs due to ongoing supply issues. This is putting further emotional and financial strain on the aged care workers who are already exhausted and burnt out.”
The Federal Government is currently prioritising the distribution of RATs to residential aged care facilities (RACFs) with a COVID-19 outbreak or exposure. Orders are processed based on urgency.
Since August 2021, more than 7.6 million RATs have been distributed to aged care facilities by the Government.
