New report highlights dire state of preventable deaths in aged care
Hundreds of thousands of us trust aged care facilities to protect our loved ones and keep them healthy and happy. However, a startling new report has found that Australia’s nursing homes have become increasingly dangerous places to live.
Of the 21,672 deaths reported in nursing homes between 2000 and 2015, 15 per cent were the result of preventable causes. In addition, 61 per cent of these preventable deaths were of women between the ages of 25 and 106 – although most occurred in the 85 to 94 years range.
According to a new study by Joe Ibrahim, a researcher at Monash University, falls, choking and suicide were the most common causes of preventable deaths – a trend Ibrahim believes shows the industry is “not looking hard enough” for ways to combat.
“Because health is now market-driven, there isn’t one group that is advocating for residents,” Ibrahim tells The Guardian. “We need to have a national group that is promoting better care, the government should have the ability to withdraw funding if they’re not happy, the accreditation agency should have the ability to not accredit.”
Ibrahim’s findings and recommendations have been welcomed by Dr Catherine Yelland, President of the Australian College of Physicians, who conceded to the Australian Financial Review that the industry “can do better”. “We all have the right to be safe in our homes, and the recommendations by Ibrahim and his co-authors for action in policy, practice and research should be heeded by our federal and state departments of health, responsible for aged care.”