Nursing home abuse 'horrifying': Roxon
March 28, 2010
AAP
A report that reveals nursing home assaults increased by 50 per cent in 12 months and sexual assaults jumped 36 per cent is "horrifying", federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon says.
The Department of Health and Ageing was notified of 1411 alleged assaults in nursing homes in 2008/09, according to a report tabled in parliament last year.
Of those, 1121 involved alleged unreasonable force, 272 involved alleged unlawful sexual contact and 18 involved both.
Ms Roxon says the report and weekend newspaper stories about it, are alarming.
"I think this is a horrifying report," she told ABC TV.
But the Rudd government had been taking "a lot of action" to turn around the crisis in aged care, the health minister said.
"The spot checks that we do in aged care ... have increased seven-fold in the time that we have been in government.
"We are worried about these sorts of instances."
Ms Roxon said over time changes made to compliance and accreditation regimes would make a difference.
"I'm not denying this is a serious problem.
"(But) we are investing a lot more in aged care to make sure that proper care is taken of our very frail and elderly citizens."
Federal Labor has been heavily criticised for not revealing its plans for aged care when announcing its $50 billion national health and hospitals network reform agenda earlier this month.
However, Ms Roxon said on Sunday that changing the funding arrangements of the whole health system would lead to better outcomes for nursing home residents.
"If we don't reform the financing and governance arrangements ... we'll actually never invest in those other innovative models," she said.
"Because you'll have the states with hospitals and us with aged care, and never the twain shall meet."
Federal Labor had already invested in transitional care to help the aged leave hospital, Ms Roxon said.
"We've already got, I think, 700 of those places online (and) we're building 2000."
© 2010 AAP
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