URGENT REVIEW NEEDED

IT is one year since the Aged Care Royal Commission, and members of our most vulnerable community remain largely in a state of neglect.

The interim report was aptly entitled “Neglect” referring to the conditions that largely remain in place today.

The very minimum that our older population should be provided with is person-centred care with sufficient nutrition and healthful living conditions in an environment of respect and dignity.

These are the people who have brought us up and worked to build this country and who have become among the most vulnerable members of our society.

To deny them care with respect, dignity and – yes – sufficient food to enable them to live out their final years in the best way possible is fundamental in any society that describes itself as humanitarian or even civilised.

There needs to be immediate investment in safe staffing ratios with qualified staff together with pay rises (as recommended); changes in immigration procedures to enable registered nurses from overseas to more easily join the aged care workforce; and an urgent review of nutrition and psychosocial care.