“How is this allowed?”: Natalie Barr unleashes on aged care
Natalie Barr has demanded an explanation from care home operators after learning that a number of facilities across Sydney will be shut in a matter of weeks, forcing out hundreds of vulnerable residents.
Her concern was for the people living in Wesley Mission’s aged care homes, with their future thrown into jeopardy with the company’s announcements that it would be closing all of its remaining city homes - with other operators expected to follow suit.
And the Sunrise host cut right to the chase, asking “how on Earth has this been allowed to happen?” for the Sylvania, Carlingford, and Narrabeen properties.
CEO and superintendent Reverend Stu Cameron has claimed that their decision was necessary because of challenges in meeting new national requirements for staffing, stating that it is “a challenging environment to be a smaller provider.
“With just three aged care locations, our offering in this area is small compared to the large and diverse range of community services we provide around NSW and across Australia."
As Sunrise correspondent Liam Tapper explained, the move was part of “major overhauls” set to happen the following month, and shared a statement from Wesley Mission.
“The Aged Care sector is experiencing challenges to workforce and flow-on impacts from the national reforms to Aged Care,” it read. “Wesley Mission supports these once-in-a-generation reforms, improving quality for all care users.”
Those “challenges” likely refer to the federal government’s target to have around-the-clock registered nurses in aged care homes by the beginning of July 2023, despite the aged care minister confessing that only one in 20 establishments would be able to satisfy this goal.
And while the operator might support the changes, they noted that they remain “in a challenging environment” and intend to do all they can to assist residents in finding new homes.
Tapper noted that Wesley Mission had a legal obligation to help, but that the situation remained “destination unknown” for those impacted by the closures.
“The families of these people must be in absolute shock,” Natalie declared, upon learning that the Department of Health and Aged Care had not been made aware of the closures.
The department did, however, assure residents that they would not be “required to move until suitable accommodation” was found.
“If you have any family member, a parent, a grandparent, anyone you know who has tried to get into an aged care facility in this country, it is so hard on a good day,” she went on, before noting that this meant “so many families [were being] left in the lurch.”
Images: Sunrise / Seven