May 30, 2010
The Federal Government has defended its system for checking on the quality and standards of aged care homes.
Two investigations are now underway into allegations of mistreatment at two different Sydney nursing homes.
The Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, says she was not aware of the allegations before they were published in a Sydney newspaper on Sunday.
But she says any complaints that are made will be investigated.
"We have in place a system of accreditation and also our complaints investigation scheme, we have announced and unannounced visits that occur right throughout our nursing homes," she said.
"We're very strict when it comes to accountability and the protections in place for our older Australians."
The Government is urging anyone with concerns about standards in aged care facilities to report them to authorities.
Ms Elliot says the aged care accreditation authority and a complaints investigation scheme are now investigating.
"We have nearly 3,000 nursing homes right across the country, and indeed the majority of those have very high standards of care," she said.
"But we have a very strong focus on ensuring there are high standards in all our nursing homes at all times and that's why we need people to tell us if they have any concerns."
The Government says it has increased funding to the aged care sector by 30 per cent since it came to office.
But the Opposition's Health spokesman Peter Dutton says that has not translated to new beds or better services.
"This is a government out of all the money that they've gone and spent on the stimulus packages, all of the money that they've gone into debt for, not one cent has gone into aged care," he said.
"The cries have been long and loud for the last two and a half years to the Rudd government and nothing has been done."
SOURCE: ABC.NET.AU
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