Aged care residents suffering

A DAMNING report has outlined how aged care facilities in Townsville have failed their residents, and how we as a society have too.

Aged care facilities Blue Care Shalom Elders Village and Bolton Clarke Rowes Bay were found to have breached more than 20 different standards.

Shalom Elders Village, which looks after Aboriginal residents, failed to comply with eight standards, with numerous failures stemming from the alleged sexual assault of a resident in late 2019.

Bolton Clarke, which was assessed in January, reported that the facility was reaccredited in March after it addressed the matters.

Shalom Elders Village in Condon was found to be non-compliant with providing “safe and effective care” of residents.

The assessment team found clinic records for the allegedly assaulted resident did not include details about emotional support after the incident and for three weeks after the incident there was no information about their wellbeing.

That a resident was allegedly assaulted in care is horrific, that they weren’t then checked up on afterwards is disgraceful.

Residents of these facilities are among our most vulnerable, and may be powerless to stop abuse or to speak up.

They are at the mercy of protocols and procedures that should be preventing misconduct.

The royal commission into aged care has uncovered some of these poor conditions. It has heard of residents being fed substandard food, of others lying in their beds immobilised and screaming in pain after a broken bone went undetected or attention was delayed.

Inadequate care of residents has been well-documented, but it is up to us as a community to ensure meaningful change is enacted and recommendations are implemented.

Hearings have been held across Australia and countless submissions made. All will be in vain if the standard of care isn’t improved. We owe them that.