Missing residents: compulsory reporting alone won’t fix problem

Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) has said it supported measures which would enhance the safety and quality of life of residents of aged care homes, in response to the Minister for Ageing’s plans for ‘tagging’ older people with dementia, and requiring reporting of residents who go missing from nursing homes.

“The Minister is right to note that this is a complex matter – there is sometimes a fine line between ensuring someone’s safety and depriving them of their liberty,” ACSA chief executive officer, Greg Mundy, commented in an industry newsletter.

“For measures like this to deal with such complexities we will need more than just increased regulation. We will need:

• A change in the culture of regulation by the Department from one of blame to one of seeking constructive solutions in partnership with providers.
• A rebalancing of the Government’s risk management priorities towards residents’ rights, respecting providers and away from protecting Ministerial and bureaucratic reputations.
• More funding for care. The Minister’s media release refers to ensuring adequate staff on every shift. The amount of staffing we have is determined by the level of funding the Government provides. The proportion of funding which goes to care staffing has remained fairly constant but the value of Government funding has gone steadily down. The Government needs to accept its share of responsibility.
• Technology and design can help with issues such as wandering. Promulgating good ideas and good practice developed by aged care providers and researchers has been our stock in trade for a long time.

“If reporting missing residents to the Department simply means that the inspectors turn up, there are important questions that need to be addressed such as: “What will they do, and how will that help?

“ACSA looks forward to discussing these and other important questions with the Government.”