Nursing home residents are being overdosed with high-risk medicines or given the wrong drugs at the wrong times by underqualified staff, a Senate inquiry established in the wake of the Oakden scandal has been told. Regulators and health professionals have warned that many residents of aged care homes are afraid to complain and that staff in some facilities have asked for residents to be sedated so that they will be easier to manage. Federal Aged Care Complaints Commissioner Rae Lamb said her office received 589 complaints in 2016 about medication administration and management. The complaints were mainly about the wrong medicines or incorrect doses being given, doses being missed or an incorrect method being used to administer drugs. “Complaints show there can be inconsistency in the skill levels of staff who administer medicine in aged care facilities,’’ Ms Lamb told the Senate community affairs committee.
August 30, 2017
Spectrum Community Focus Limited is challenging via a s.604 (Appeal of decisions) an earlier Fair Work Commission decision involving a staffer (Valenzuela).
August 30, 2017
Retirees WA (inc.) is fighting a s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) before Commissioner Williams in conference room 12.35 in Perth at 2pm (Pereira).
August 29, 2017
An 80-year-old woman at a retirement village has been cornered and sexually abused by a worker on the Gold Coast.
August 29, 2017
Blue Care – Uniting Church has prepared a defence to a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) lodged by an ex-staffer (Dalton).
August 29, 2017
The number of Gold Coast mental health nurses on workers’ compensation is already double that of previous years as drug-related treatment issues increase pressure on frontline staff. Five nurses at Robina Hospital’s mental health unit have made WorkCover claims this year — up from two per year in 2014-2016. The number of occupational violence incidents reported at the mental health unit at Robina has also increased from 19 last year to 28 so far this year.
August 29, 2017
An application by Health Services Union (s.240 – Application to deal with a bargaining dispute) will be reviewed by Commissioner Cribb in conference room E & F – level 6 in Melbourne at 4pm.
August 29, 2017
Central Gippsland Health Service is facing a s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) instigated by a staff member (Ollier).
