OUR SAY: Aged care's still being ignored, and that's got to stop

The devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic when the virus got out of hotel quarantine and killed so many in Victorian aged care homes shone a light on that.

It is also beyond question that there seems to be a lack of understanding at the highest levels of what needs to be done to address the issue.

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But if this doesn't happen, the constant of inadequate care for those in aged care homes will continue.

Certainly we know of facilities where people get the care they deserve; the Border certainly has aged care homes where affording dignity is at the forefront of the operator's minds.

But too often, in settings across Australia and even here, that's not the case.

That, as Border aged care nurse Janine Quinn has expressed herself, must be heartbreaking for those who work in the sector.

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It is a career pursued for the simple reason that caring for others is what they want to do.

It's compromised though when there's no commitment to such basics as decent staffing levels.

Much attention has focused on how allowing the industry to be run by the private sector has allowed profit to play too great a part in determining how aged care should - and is - delivered.

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For its part, the federal government has decided, though last week's budget, to address such shortfalls, with a stated commitment to mandating 200 minutes of care, per resident, per day by October, 2023.

This, says Ms Quinn - the president of the Albury branch of the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association - is nowhere near enough.

It's why her union is campaigning for what it sees as the key issues of better carer-to-resident ratios, greater development of staff skills, transparency of funding and increased wages.

But the crux of the problems besetting the industry is, again, as she says, the need for far more workers.

Until that is addressed, nothing will change for the better.

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