Charles Moore, CEO of BaptistCare NSW & ACT, has revealed why he wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, titled ‘Change is needed: A warning from COVID’s ground zero in aged care’.
“It was certainly a moment for us at BaptistCare when the Prime Minister said we needed to “push through”. Scott Morrison explaining his government’s strategy for dealing with the latest wave of the pandemic, saying: “You have two choices here: you can push through or you can lock down. We’re for pushing through,” he told The Weekly Star.
“Our organisation and hard-working staff have been “pushing through” for the past two decades, and 20 independent reports later, we are still waiting for and need real structural reform and action, not more band aids.
“After two years of responding to COVID-19, and many independent reports highlighting the aged care sector needs a major overhaul, our staff, our residents and our families are on their knees and hearing we should “manage as best we can” was incredibly disappointing.
“COVID-19 has accelerated systemic issues explored by The Royal Commission, and several major recommendations are still to be addressed by Government.
“Key amongst these are a recommendation to improve pay and conditions for the workforce. We need more staff, and they need to be better paid.”
Charles said his letter had been supported by other RAC providers, and in particular, “families whose loved ones are in our aged care homes, have reached out and extended their support to our letter.”
To read Charles’ letter to the PM, click here.
