{"id":312292,"date":"2022-01-24T10:50:54","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T00:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=312292"},"modified":"2022-01-24T14:47:12","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T04:47:12","slug":"unions-slam-aged-care-covid-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2022\/01\/24\/unions-slam-aged-care-covid-chaos\/","title":{"rendered":"Unions Slam Aged Care COVID ‘Chaos’"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 24, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

Surveys of members by two unions have painted a devastating picture of life inside aged care facilities in Queensland trying to cope with outbreaks of Omicron.<\/p>\n

The latest Federal Government data<\/a> <\/strong>(1.39Mb PDF) shows that on January 20 there were 7861 aged care residents (including 1309 in Queensland) and 11,198 aged care staff (including 2366 in Queensland) with active COVID-19.<\/p>\n

In comparison, data released on January 14 showed these figures at 3208 residents (367 Qld) and 3806 staff (620 Qld).<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The United Workers Union released firsthand accounts on Monday from its members.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The union surveyed 900 workers, including almost 400 in Queensland, with more than 80 per cent reporting on the impact of working in facilities with outbreaks of Omicron.<\/p>\n

The UWU said Omicron had created chaos in aged care facilities nationally, putting pressure on “an already understaffed, low-paid and exhausted workforce”.<\/p>\n

The union said workers had reported breakdowns in infection control processes and harsh impacts on residents, with one-in-ten reporting they were being asked to work even when they were ill:<\/p>\n

\u201cResidents are being put at risk because of the critical understaffing in the facility\u201d \u2013 Aged care worker, Queensland.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have staff being moved from between the COVID-affected areas to non-infected areas and the management is turning a blind eye so they can say there was staff\u201d \u2013 Aged care worker, Queensland.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI worked closely with a staff member for a whole day who tested positive and I asked if they had any RAT tests so I don\u2019t put residents in danger. They said they only had two and don\u2019t want to use them on me because I was wearing an N95 mask so I wasn’t deemed a close contact \u2026\u00a0 The whole aged care sector right now has gone from terrible to horrifying\u201d – Aged care worker, Queensland.<\/em><\/p>\n

The union said workers had detailed a struggle to get adequate PPE. More than a third or respondents to the survey said say they either did not have any PPE or it was highly limited and likely to run out; 56 per cent of workers say they were not being tested for COVID-19 at all.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One-third of workers did not feel confident they knew how to manage COVID-positive residents.<\/p>\n

The workers painted a picture of a demoralised workforce being pushed beyond its limits, facing high pressure to work extra shifts and extra days without any boosted pay or recognition.<\/p>\n

Almost 80 per cent of workers report they are stressed, exhausted and confused by the constantly changing demands of Omicron.<\/p>\n

And almost 60 per cent reported they were frequently being asked to work double shifts.<\/p>\n

UWU is demanding that aged care workers get regular access to testing, a\u00a0special COVID wage top-up, paid pandemic leave, appropriate PPE and infection control processes and a\u00a0national response to the aged care staffing crisis.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A survey earlier this month by a different union, the Health Services Union, detailed similar problems, citing\u00a0chronic understaffing, excessive workloads and extended shifts in aged care facilities across Australia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The HSU survey of more than 1000 workers found:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • 82 per cent believe their facility was unprepared for the Omicron “let it rip” approach<\/li>\n
  • 90 per cent were experiencing understaffing<\/li>\n
  • 84 per cent were experiencing excessive workloads<\/li>\n
  • 36 per cent were working in facilities which had implemented 12-hour shifts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Staff also reported working 16-hour shifts, working seven days consecutively, staff without food safety qualifications working in kitchens and a shortage of PPE and rapid antigen tests.<\/p>\n

    Further, 39 per cent of members have had to isolate due to exposure and only 16 per cent of those had access to paid isolation leave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Surveys of members by two unions have painted a devastating picture of life inside aged care facilities in Queensland trying to cope with outbreaks of Omicron.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":312310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1455,3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnions Slam Aged Care COVID 'Chaos' - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Surveys of members by two unions have painted a devastating picture of life inside aged care facilities in Queensland trying to cope with outbreaks of Omicron.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2022\/01\/24\/unions-slam-aged-care-covid-chaos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unions Slam Aged Care COVID 'Chaos' - 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