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CARERS CALLING FOR CHANGE

Working in aged care can be an incredibly rewarding experience – but for most aged care workers, those rewards are overshadowed by the physical and emotional strain from limited staffing and Government funding cuts.

By Katya Minns

Aged care workers gather at an afternoon tea hosted by United Voice for the ‘Our Turn To Care’ campaign that recognises aged care workers and their efforts in the industry. (Photo by Katya Minns)

Assorted baked goods, cups of tea and native Australian flowers decorate the kitchen table in the Gracehaven’s Residential Aged Care staff room – an area where staff can sit and relax during their break after an intensely time-strict shift. Amongst the staff at Gracehaven is Jude Clarke, a dedicated 62-year-old aged care worker who has been assisting the elderly since she was a young girl. With a bright smile, Clarke recalls her experiences at a young age with the elderly, which eventually led her to decide to work in the aged care sector.

“I’ve always been really involved with older people... I used to have these oldies in the street that I used to go visit to make sure they were okay,” she says. “One lady was blind and I used to make sure that her washing was hanging out, and if I didn’t see her I used to go make sure that she was there. Used to do shopping for them and stuff like that, so I think it’s in my blood.”

Despite her enjoyment in working with the elderly, Clarke finds it difficult to provide the care and attention they need. With only 84 staff and even more residents at Gracehaven, the most common issues in the workplace is the lack of time, resources and help. This results in most residents having to wait long periods of time for assistance, and carers often feeling guilty for not being able to provide the care and attention the elderly deserve.

“We don’t have enough time and we are too task orientated,” Clarke says.

“Personally I would just sit there all day holding their hand and giving them cuddles, finding out what they did in the past to make their future better... but we can’t always do that.”

On October 8 2018, the federal Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety was announced, following an increase in allegations of assault against elderly residents. Upon inspection, aged care workers banded together and stepped forward to defend themselves and reveal the struggles they face on a regular basis. One worker, Tahlia Stagg, took to Facebook to describe, in a post that went viral, the daily tasks she has to complete for each resident in just a mere eight minutes.

“In eight minutes, I must use a lifter to transfer each resident from their bed to the toilet, from the toilet to the shower, wash them, shave them, dry them, moisturise them, dress them, comb their hair, brush their teeth, apply hearing aids, dress their wounds, transfer them to a wheelchair, tidy their room, make their bed, empty their bin and wheel them to the dining room. Eight minutes!” Stagg says.

Meanwhile, other residents lay in their bed waiting to be attended to.

Uproar from the Australian public unsurprisingly followed, with some expressing their oblivion of the issue until now. Fellow aged care workers confirmed the harsh reality, with most sharing their own challenging experiences within aged care facilities and how it has taken its toll on their wellbeing. Health Services Union began conducting the largest aged care workplace survey with workers in residential and aged care work.

On 14 October 2019, the shocking results from 5000 responses were released and it was heartbreaking:

o   87 per cent of respondents have to hurry residents in care because there are too many tasks to complete.
o   94 per cent also said home care respondents don’t have enough time to talk to an elderly person in their care.
o   81 per cent of workers always or often did not have time to do the tasks they are required to do.
o   43.4 per cent of residential aged care staff report they have suffered a work-related injury
o   A third of aged care staff plan to leave within five years
o   Raising all homes to a five-star standard would require increasing the number of aged care staff by 50 per cent.

Unfortunately, these statistics do not surprise unions such as United Voice, who have been petitioning for better services and support of workers within the aged care sector since Malcolm Turnbull and Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt cut aged care funding by more than a billion dollars in 2018.

United Voice WA Secretary Carolyn Smith voices the frustration and exhaustion amongst the union and its members from the ongoing issues in aged care.

"These issues are causing damage physically and emotionally to workers and are in turn not allowing older Australians their dignity and respect they deserve in their older years,” she says.

“The excessive workloads, understaffing, low pay, lack of respect and recognition and daily trauma is turning people away from the sector and that in itself is a problem.”

Research from the Australian College of Nursing showed a 13 per cent drop in full-time positions of Registered and Enrolled Nurses since 2003, the Royal Commission heard.

“When you have skilled, compassionate individuals who choose this work to make a difference and are leaving because of these issues - you know there is a problem."

The Royal Commission will be running until April 2020 with an interim report due at the end of October 2019.