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Workforce, placement and funding issues on the table
Written by STEVE KELLY.
PROBLEMS in aged care are many, with too few solutions of change to help those at the coalface - the nurses - and the facilities, which are suffering from a severe lack of funding.
Nurses are after pay parity with their counterparts who are working in other nursing fields and the facilities want to be heard and action to be taken to make conditions better.
Sophie Mirabella (MHR, Indi) visited St John’s Village Wangaratta this week and announced that a forum will be held with stakeholders in March in an attempt to get some results in favor of a service that is very much in crisis.
Liberal spokesperson for aged care Senator Connie Fierravanti-Wells will attend the forum to hear from the people who know exactly what is going on.
"I will conduct a forum and invite all aged care providers in the North East to come along to directly relate the issues at their facility and their suggestions in what needs to be done with government policy," Mrs Mirabella said.
"In some states facilities haven’t even bid for aged care places because they don’t believe there is enough money per place.
"So we’re seeing a situation where there is increasing demand with an aging population, yet some existing aged care facilities are not taking up the offer.
"There are workforce, placement and funding issues and we need to plan for the future.
"It’s important for people to hear from people who are at the coal face - to hear from the providers because they deal with the problems on a day to day basis and they see the real human impact.
"We’ve got a situation where millions of dollars have been misspent in the stimulus package and this translates into less money to be spent and cuts in some areas."
Mrs Mirabella expressed her disappointment in the government "dragging its feet" in response to Senate report recommendations on aged care released last year.
She said especially with an aging population, aged care is very important, not just for the families who need it, but for those who rely heavily on local services.
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