Seizing an opportunity to push for change?
Repeating his evidence to the Royal Commission last year, the Chair of the Aged Care Workforce Strategy Taskforce, Professor John Pollaers OAM, has accused the Federal Government of being too slow to act on recommendations that may have helped the sector respond to the COVID crisis.
Professor Pollaers appeared on ABC Radio on Wednesday – together with COTA Australia CEO Ian Yates – to address community concerns about aged care staff going to work sick.
“None of this has happened by deliberate action but we now need to recognise we have an underfunded system that hasn’t had adequate access to the clinical support that it needs when it needs it,” he said.
The Taskforce had recommended improved funding, training and recruitment, and breaking down of the silos between aged care and the rest of the health system.
Professor Pollaers believes if these had been followed through before the pandemic, it would have enabled: “nurses and those with the right infection control and management skills and even intensive care skills visiting and servicing those people in needs in residential care.”
He also believes the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) should be performing infection control audits and assessments.
“There’s a real opportunity in the quality and safety commission to get more involved in this COVID crisis in establishing exactly what the capabilities and gaps are in this aged care residential businesses, identifying the support that they need right now,” he said.
