Parliament’s health select committee today heard submitters behind a petition from the E tū Union calling for legislation to require minimum staffing levels in aged care residential facilities.
Workers from the sector attended in person to describe the huge strain they and colleagues are under, as well as how the quality of care required for those in aged care is being jeopardised by unsafe staffing levels.
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“Our population is ageing, and when people come into residential aged care facilities now they’re requiring more care,” said Marianne Bishop who has worked for 30 years as a caregiver and health care assistant.
“Staff are struggling to give residents all the care they need. Staff are struggling to give them quality care. Staff are struggling to do that little bit extra for residents because of their workload.”
The range of tasks confronting staff at the vanguard of health care for aged people who live with disability and sickness has created growing pressures on human resources in this sector.
Bishop noted that she was involved in the development of the indicators for safe aged-care and dementia-care for consumers when they were established in 2005.
“They are 17 years old now. We do not believe that they are still fit for purpose,” she said.
Another who submitted, Ruby Sayer is a 23-year old who has worked in this sector since she was 15. She said unsafe staffing was the number one issue causing people to leave the sector with workloads becoming bigger and the complexities of residents’ needs changing daily.
Marianne Bishop gives evidence to the Health Select Committee hearing a petition on aged care staffing levels Photo: VNP/Phil Smith
“With the change in care of elderly, especially during this pandemic, we have had very sick residents, a lot of palliative care, and managing our other everyday work tasks - it’s been tough and our workloads are huge.
“Our skill mix and progressive education will not reduce our workloads,” she said.
"Therefore, we require more staff to meet all those complex needs of our older people. To resolve this issue of safe staffing in aged care for our residents, we need to provide a holistic care matrix, and without the staff to do this we cannot meet all the rights of our residents.”
E tū health director Kirsty McCully said it’s time to take urgent steps by adopting quality measures and mandatory safe staffing protocols that take into consideration all the roles required within an aged care facility, including caregiving roles, therapists, nurses, service workers and administration staff.
“These things urgently needed to be incorporated into the funding contract,” McCully explained, adding that regulation is required because the current systems in place do not work.
Ruby Sayer presents to the Health Select Committee about Aged Care staffing levels Photo: Phil Smith
McCully said the argument that minimum staffing levels are enough does not cut it.
“When they’re audited, everybody puts on a very good show, makes everything look ship-shape. But actually, we know it’s not. We know that there are critical issues and we’re failing people.
“These workers don’t want to go to work and fail people every day. They want a sector that they can be proud to work in. And they want a future for those residents that they care for every single day that does not look bleak and where they can actually meet the caring needs that they deserve.”
Having listened to all this, National’s Health spokesman Dr Shane Reti admitted he’s worried that this part of the health sector is about to collapse.
He pointed out some alarming stats relating to Section 31 Cert Notifications, when for example an aged care facility nurse notifies the Health Ministry that they have been working in unsafe conditions.
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"In 2020 there were 260 Section 31 notifications. Last year there were 851. This year to date, my understanding is there’s 837," Dr Reti said.
“I worry that the trigger factor for your sector will be when pay equity appropriately lands with the DHBs (District Health Boards) and the difference gets even greater.
Dr Reti advised that he would introduce a Supplementary Order Paper later this evening in Parliament seeking a health workforce strategy and a strategy for older peoples to be forced into the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill on major health reform currently being thrashed out at the committee stage.
“That will be your issues placed into that Bill, and we will see if the government of the day supports it or not.”
National MP Shane Reti sitting on Parliament's Health Select Committee Photo: Phil Smith
The Aged Care Commissioner Carolyn Cooper said she understood the submitters’ desire for legislative change.
“It would be extremely difficult to actually live and achieve the legislation with the challenges in the workforce that there is. Rather than focussing on legislative change, it’d be better to focus on the sustainability of the current aged care services.
“In my view workforce planning for the care of older people needs to be prioritised and in particular the retention and recruitment of workers that work in residential services.”
So, according to officials, there’s no easy fix to the problem, but the cry for help from the aged care sector workers has given MPs something to mull over.