It is rough if you are old in Victoria
Forum rules
Don't poop in these threads. This isn't Europe, okay? There are rules here!
Don't poop in these threads. This isn't Europe, okay? There are rules here!
-
- Posts: 1355
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:56 am
Re: It is rough if you are old in Victoria
Wonder if they have tried medical marijuana ? What about testing the Virus malaria drug on these elderly people ?
Is this part of the UN One World Socialist Govt's plan to reduce the world population by about 6 billion ?
Australian experts warn against the use of sedatives to contain Covid spread in aged care
Calla Wahlquist Published onThu 13 Aug 2020 03.30 AEST
Researchers fear drugs like Valium will be used to confine aged care residents to their rooms in understaffed facilities with coronavirus outbreaks.
Experts say sedatives that reduce a person’s respiratory rate can make a patient who is already battling Covid-19 much sicker. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
The aged care regulator is investigating a Melbourne aged care home following reports it used sedatives to manage the behaviour of some residents who had tested positive for Covid-19.
The federal aged care minister, Richard Colbeck, said the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission was “investigating the situation at Glenlyn” care home in Glenroy after allegations were reported in The Australian.
The newspaper alleged some residents considered to be “wanderers” had been given sedatives to ensure they remained in their room and did not spread the virus, after an attempt to have positive residents moved to hospital was rebuffed.
“The Morrison government has been working to improve the safe use of medicines and reduce the inappropriate use of chemical restraint in residential aged care, but notes that the situation at Glenlyn involves residents with very complex medical and care needs at a very difficult time,” Colbeck said in a statement late on Tuesday.
Glenlyn has 11 cases of coronavirus among residents and staff. The nursing home has been contacted for comment.
The use of sedatives to manage the behaviour of aged care residents with dementia or cognitive issues was tightened last year after the royal commission into aged care heard that homes were turning residents into “zombies” with a heavy reliance on chemical restraints and psychiatric drugs.
Aged care experts warned in March that the use of sedatives could increase in homes following a Covid-19 outbreak, because of understaffing and the need to confine people to their rooms to prevent the virus from spreading.
Hundreds of Australia’s aged care residents will die of Covid because of government failure, expert warns.
Prof Joseph Ibrahim, the head of the health law and ageing research unit at Monash University, said that prediction appeared to have come true in some homes, while other homes have reduced their use of sedatives because being closed to visitors had stabilised the routines of people with dementia.
But he said that despite aged care homes being required to report on the use of sedatives and psychiatric drugs, there is no publicly available data showing how, and indeed if, their use has changed in facilities that have experienced a Covid-19 outbreak. Ibrahim said it’s not clear whether drugs prescribed by doctors at state hospitals, which have been brought in by the Victorian government to oversee and supplement the aged care workforce, would also be reported to the aged care quality and safety commissioner.
The Australian reported some aged care facilities were using sedatives to prevent residents who had tested positive to Covid-19 from “wandering” because state hospitals had turned down their request to transfer all positive residents to hospital. Ibrahim, who was also quoted in that report, said the use of sedatives was “concerning”.
“If it’s acceptable to sedate someone so they are not a risk to others, how do you reconcile that with the fact that it’s OK to keep residents in a home when they have tested positive to the virus and may also pose a risk?” he said.
As of Wednesday there were 1,932 active cases of Covid-19 in Victoria linked to 122 outbreaks across the aged care sector. Some 476 people from aged care have been transferred to hospital.
Ibrahim said Valium and other benzodiazepines reduce a person’s respiratory rate, which could impact on the already suppressed breathing of a person who is battling Covid-19. “They may make the sick worse,” he said.
The Royal Melbourne hospital, which manages in-reach services at a number of aged care homes, said residents who test positive to Covid-19 are cared for in their home and transferred to hospital if their condition deteriorates.
Victoria records highest Covid death toll at 21 and 410 cases as aged care sector remains hardest hit.
“In some cases where residents are prone to agitation and delirium, medications can be used to ensure the safety of themselves, other residents and the staff,” a spokesperson for the hospital said.
The hospital disputed claims that palliative care medication had been prescribed for patients who did not need it, saying it was only prescribed to people nearing the end of their life.
Maryann Curry, the clinical services director at Bupa Aged Care, said that swiftly transferring Covid-positive residents to hospital was critical to controlling an outbreak. But she said there were some some situations where that was “proving extremely challenging”.
“At a critical time like this, when days or hours can potentially make the difference to patient outcomes, we need to be able to rely on a hospital system that listens to and responds to our residents and those who care for them,” she said.
Curry said they did not use sedatives to enforce self-isolation.
“We don’t introduce new medications as a substitute for not being able to transfer our residents to hospital to receive the care they need,” she said. “This is inappropriate and not something that we endorse. The right care must be given at the right time, and in the right setting.”
Ibrahim said an argument repeated a number of times by the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, that people with dementia could be upset by being moved from their home in aged care to the unfamiliar environment of a hospital, did not apply to aged care homes whose routines were already “radically changed” due to a Covid-19 outbreak.
“How much of a routine do you think currently exists at a place like St Basil’s?” he said.
Federal government had no Covid-19 aged care plan, royal commission hears.
Age discrimination commissioner Dr Kay Patterson said decisions around the management of Covid-19 patients “should not be influenced by ageist attitudes or stereotypes which devalue older people and in turn devalue their lives”.
“Decisions should be made on the principle that all lives, regardless of age, are of equal value.”
The deputy national chief medical officer, Dr Nick Coatsworth, told reporters that any suggestions there was an “attitude of futility towards death in residential aged care in Australia is, frankly, insulting to the entire Australian community, who locked down to prevent deaths amongst our most vulnerable”.
But Coatsworth said the outbreak in Melbourne, and any future outbreaks would lead to more deaths in the aged care population.
Sixteen of the 21 people with Covid-19 who died in Victoria overnight were connected to the aged care system.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... -aged-care
Is this part of the UN One World Socialist Govt's plan to reduce the world population by about 6 billion ?
Australian experts warn against the use of sedatives to contain Covid spread in aged care
Calla Wahlquist Published onThu 13 Aug 2020 03.30 AEST
Researchers fear drugs like Valium will be used to confine aged care residents to their rooms in understaffed facilities with coronavirus outbreaks.
Experts say sedatives that reduce a person’s respiratory rate can make a patient who is already battling Covid-19 much sicker. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
The aged care regulator is investigating a Melbourne aged care home following reports it used sedatives to manage the behaviour of some residents who had tested positive for Covid-19.
The federal aged care minister, Richard Colbeck, said the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission was “investigating the situation at Glenlyn” care home in Glenroy after allegations were reported in The Australian.
The newspaper alleged some residents considered to be “wanderers” had been given sedatives to ensure they remained in their room and did not spread the virus, after an attempt to have positive residents moved to hospital was rebuffed.
“The Morrison government has been working to improve the safe use of medicines and reduce the inappropriate use of chemical restraint in residential aged care, but notes that the situation at Glenlyn involves residents with very complex medical and care needs at a very difficult time,” Colbeck said in a statement late on Tuesday.
Glenlyn has 11 cases of coronavirus among residents and staff. The nursing home has been contacted for comment.
The use of sedatives to manage the behaviour of aged care residents with dementia or cognitive issues was tightened last year after the royal commission into aged care heard that homes were turning residents into “zombies” with a heavy reliance on chemical restraints and psychiatric drugs.
Aged care experts warned in March that the use of sedatives could increase in homes following a Covid-19 outbreak, because of understaffing and the need to confine people to their rooms to prevent the virus from spreading.
Hundreds of Australia’s aged care residents will die of Covid because of government failure, expert warns.
Prof Joseph Ibrahim, the head of the health law and ageing research unit at Monash University, said that prediction appeared to have come true in some homes, while other homes have reduced their use of sedatives because being closed to visitors had stabilised the routines of people with dementia.
But he said that despite aged care homes being required to report on the use of sedatives and psychiatric drugs, there is no publicly available data showing how, and indeed if, their use has changed in facilities that have experienced a Covid-19 outbreak. Ibrahim said it’s not clear whether drugs prescribed by doctors at state hospitals, which have been brought in by the Victorian government to oversee and supplement the aged care workforce, would also be reported to the aged care quality and safety commissioner.
The Australian reported some aged care facilities were using sedatives to prevent residents who had tested positive to Covid-19 from “wandering” because state hospitals had turned down their request to transfer all positive residents to hospital. Ibrahim, who was also quoted in that report, said the use of sedatives was “concerning”.
“If it’s acceptable to sedate someone so they are not a risk to others, how do you reconcile that with the fact that it’s OK to keep residents in a home when they have tested positive to the virus and may also pose a risk?” he said.
As of Wednesday there were 1,932 active cases of Covid-19 in Victoria linked to 122 outbreaks across the aged care sector. Some 476 people from aged care have been transferred to hospital.
Ibrahim said Valium and other benzodiazepines reduce a person’s respiratory rate, which could impact on the already suppressed breathing of a person who is battling Covid-19. “They may make the sick worse,” he said.
The Royal Melbourne hospital, which manages in-reach services at a number of aged care homes, said residents who test positive to Covid-19 are cared for in their home and transferred to hospital if their condition deteriorates.
Victoria records highest Covid death toll at 21 and 410 cases as aged care sector remains hardest hit.
“In some cases where residents are prone to agitation and delirium, medications can be used to ensure the safety of themselves, other residents and the staff,” a spokesperson for the hospital said.
The hospital disputed claims that palliative care medication had been prescribed for patients who did not need it, saying it was only prescribed to people nearing the end of their life.
Maryann Curry, the clinical services director at Bupa Aged Care, said that swiftly transferring Covid-positive residents to hospital was critical to controlling an outbreak. But she said there were some some situations where that was “proving extremely challenging”.
“At a critical time like this, when days or hours can potentially make the difference to patient outcomes, we need to be able to rely on a hospital system that listens to and responds to our residents and those who care for them,” she said.
Curry said they did not use sedatives to enforce self-isolation.
“We don’t introduce new medications as a substitute for not being able to transfer our residents to hospital to receive the care they need,” she said. “This is inappropriate and not something that we endorse. The right care must be given at the right time, and in the right setting.”
Ibrahim said an argument repeated a number of times by the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, that people with dementia could be upset by being moved from their home in aged care to the unfamiliar environment of a hospital, did not apply to aged care homes whose routines were already “radically changed” due to a Covid-19 outbreak.
“How much of a routine do you think currently exists at a place like St Basil’s?” he said.
Federal government had no Covid-19 aged care plan, royal commission hears.
Age discrimination commissioner Dr Kay Patterson said decisions around the management of Covid-19 patients “should not be influenced by ageist attitudes or stereotypes which devalue older people and in turn devalue their lives”.
“Decisions should be made on the principle that all lives, regardless of age, are of equal value.”
The deputy national chief medical officer, Dr Nick Coatsworth, told reporters that any suggestions there was an “attitude of futility towards death in residential aged care in Australia is, frankly, insulting to the entire Australian community, who locked down to prevent deaths amongst our most vulnerable”.
But Coatsworth said the outbreak in Melbourne, and any future outbreaks would lead to more deaths in the aged care population.
Sixteen of the 21 people with Covid-19 who died in Victoria overnight were connected to the aged care system.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... -aged-care
-
- Posts: 1355
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:56 am
Re: It is rough if you are old in Victoria
The dirt is being thrown thick and fast at the Royal Commission!!!
Staff cuts, 1,000 workers with coronavirus and face masks kept in locked boxes: Nursing union makes stunning claims about Victoria's aged care homes at royal commission
By CHARLOTTE KARP and ELIZA MCPHEE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA PUBLISHED: 01:34 AEST, 13 August 2020 | UPDATED: 01:34 AEST, 13 August 2020
Health bosses were 'shocked and disturbed' by details exposed in the probe
Some aged care facilities in Australia were accused of failing to provide soap
An estimated 1,000 aged care workers tested positive to coronavirus
One official said upset workers felt 'like they were at the bottom of the Titanic'
Health bosses have been left 'shocked and deeply disturbed' by details heard in a royal commission into coronavirus deaths in aged care homes.
Members of the nurses union made a series of explosive allegations during the probe on Wednesday, claiming that essential face masks were kept in locked boxes and limited to one per shift.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation secretary Annie Butler said workers had detailed 'incredible breaches' of infection control.
'We had members tell us they could only use one glove rather than two,' Ms Butler said during aged care royal commission hearings.
'Members [have been] told they had to reuse equipment, put it in collective plastic bags.'
Health Workers Union Victorian secretary Diana Asmar estimates 1,000 of their members in the state had caught the virus.
Poor staffing ratios, a lack of PPE and the growing death toll had left workers feeling like they were 'at the bottom of the Titanic', she said.
Some facilities were accused of failing to provide soap.
Medical staff and a health commander are seen at an aged care facility in Melbourne in July
read on and be dismayed here
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... ssion.html
Staff cuts, 1,000 workers with coronavirus and face masks kept in locked boxes: Nursing union makes stunning claims about Victoria's aged care homes at royal commission
By CHARLOTTE KARP and ELIZA MCPHEE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA PUBLISHED: 01:34 AEST, 13 August 2020 | UPDATED: 01:34 AEST, 13 August 2020
Health bosses were 'shocked and disturbed' by details exposed in the probe
Some aged care facilities in Australia were accused of failing to provide soap
An estimated 1,000 aged care workers tested positive to coronavirus
One official said upset workers felt 'like they were at the bottom of the Titanic'
Health bosses have been left 'shocked and deeply disturbed' by details heard in a royal commission into coronavirus deaths in aged care homes.
Members of the nurses union made a series of explosive allegations during the probe on Wednesday, claiming that essential face masks were kept in locked boxes and limited to one per shift.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation secretary Annie Butler said workers had detailed 'incredible breaches' of infection control.
'We had members tell us they could only use one glove rather than two,' Ms Butler said during aged care royal commission hearings.
'Members [have been] told they had to reuse equipment, put it in collective plastic bags.'
Health Workers Union Victorian secretary Diana Asmar estimates 1,000 of their members in the state had caught the virus.
Poor staffing ratios, a lack of PPE and the growing death toll had left workers feeling like they were 'at the bottom of the Titanic', she said.
Some facilities were accused of failing to provide soap.
Medical staff and a health commander are seen at an aged care facility in Melbourne in July
read on and be dismayed here
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... ssion.html
- Nom De Plume
- Posts: 2241
- Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2017 7:18 pm
Re: It is rough if you are old in Victoria
Many of these issues were around when my Mum was nursing in aged care, 30 years. She was always buying soap and talc for the patients.
"But you will run your kunt mouth at me. And I will take it, to play poker."
-
- Posts: 1355
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:56 am
Re: It is rough if you are old in Victoria
Is it advisable to die before getting old ?
'Ants crawling from wounds': horrifying scenes at coronavirus-hit aged care home in Melbourne
Melissa Davey Fri 14 Aug 2020 14.27 AESTFirst published on Fri 14 Aug 2020 14.20 AEST
Exclusive: video and pictures show resident left with ants crawling over bloodied bandages on her legs as staff report dreadful conditions.
Kalyna Care, a private residential home located in Delahey Victoria.
Staff brought into Kalyna Care, an aged care home in Melbourne, have reported being horrified by the conditions, including one resident with ants crawling in a leg wound, two weeks after management said they approached state and federal governments for help with a coronavirus outbreak
Horrific footage of a 95-year-old woman left to languish in a Melbourne aged care facility struck by Covid-19 shows ants crawling from a wound on her leg, and the bandages around it crusted with blood.
The footage and photos, described by the federal aged care minister as “heartbreaking”, were taken inside Kalyna Care, a private residential home in Melbourne’s north-west, on Tuesday, some two weeks after the virus was first identified in one staff member.
The woman, known to her family as Milka, died on Friday morning of conditions unrelated to Covid-19.
Care staff brought into the home this week have told Guardian Australia that some residents went without food or water for 18 hours. Faeces were found on the floor. An ant infestation, which had been kept at bay, had got out-of-control in Milka’s room.
Read on and be shocked here
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... -melbourne
'Ants crawling from wounds': horrifying scenes at coronavirus-hit aged care home in Melbourne
Melissa Davey Fri 14 Aug 2020 14.27 AESTFirst published on Fri 14 Aug 2020 14.20 AEST
Exclusive: video and pictures show resident left with ants crawling over bloodied bandages on her legs as staff report dreadful conditions.
Kalyna Care, a private residential home located in Delahey Victoria.
Staff brought into Kalyna Care, an aged care home in Melbourne, have reported being horrified by the conditions, including one resident with ants crawling in a leg wound, two weeks after management said they approached state and federal governments for help with a coronavirus outbreak
Horrific footage of a 95-year-old woman left to languish in a Melbourne aged care facility struck by Covid-19 shows ants crawling from a wound on her leg, and the bandages around it crusted with blood.
The footage and photos, described by the federal aged care minister as “heartbreaking”, were taken inside Kalyna Care, a private residential home in Melbourne’s north-west, on Tuesday, some two weeks after the virus was first identified in one staff member.
The woman, known to her family as Milka, died on Friday morning of conditions unrelated to Covid-19.
Care staff brought into the home this week have told Guardian Australia that some residents went without food or water for 18 hours. Faeces were found on the floor. An ant infestation, which had been kept at bay, had got out-of-control in Milka’s room.
Read on and be shocked here
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... -melbourne
-
- Posts: 1355
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:56 am
Re: It is rough if you are old in Victoria
They are dropping like flies south of the border down Victoria way.
Multiple deaths at Yarraville aged care facility
By Brandon Livesay • Afternoon Editor 11:56am Aug 16, 2020
Seven residents from the same aged care facility in Melbourne have died from COVID-19.
Doutta Galla Aged Services confirmed two residents had died at Yarraville Village, and five had died in hospitals.
The deaths occurred over the past two weeks.
"Their families have been kept fully informed and our hearts and thoughts go out to them," a statement from CEO Vanda Iaconese said.
"The situation continues to be difficult for our residents and families, particularly when families are unable to be close in contact with their loved ones. The management of our facility is, however, under control to the best possible extent."
LIVE UPDATES: Victoria records 16 deaths in 24 hours
There are 23 residents who have tested positive and are being cared for at the facility.
Read on here and don't look forward to getting old!!!!
https://www.9news.com.au/national/aged- ... 69e40099d6
Multiple deaths at Yarraville aged care facility
By Brandon Livesay • Afternoon Editor 11:56am Aug 16, 2020
Seven residents from the same aged care facility in Melbourne have died from COVID-19.
Doutta Galla Aged Services confirmed two residents had died at Yarraville Village, and five had died in hospitals.
The deaths occurred over the past two weeks.
"Their families have been kept fully informed and our hearts and thoughts go out to them," a statement from CEO Vanda Iaconese said.
"The situation continues to be difficult for our residents and families, particularly when families are unable to be close in contact with their loved ones. The management of our facility is, however, under control to the best possible extent."
LIVE UPDATES: Victoria records 16 deaths in 24 hours
There are 23 residents who have tested positive and are being cared for at the facility.
Read on here and don't look forward to getting old!!!!
https://www.9news.com.au/national/aged- ... 69e40099d6
- BigP
- Posts: 4970
- Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2018 3:56 pm
Re: It is rough if you are old in Victoria
Juliar wrote: ↑Sun Aug 16, 2020 4:50 pmThey are dropping like flies south of the border down Victoria way.
Multiple deaths at Yarraville aged care facility
By Brandon Livesay • Afternoon Editor 11:56am Aug 16, 2020
Seven residents from the same aged care facility in Melbourne have died from COVID-19.
Doutta Galla Aged Services confirmed two residents had died at Yarraville Village, and five had died in hospitals.
The deaths occurred over the past two weeks.
"Their families have been kept fully informed and our hearts and thoughts go out to them," a statement from CEO Vanda Iaconese said.
"The situation continues to be difficult for our residents and families, particularly when families are unable to be close in contact with their loved ones. The management of our facility is, however, under control to the best possible extent."
LIVE UPDATES: Victoria records 16 deaths in 24 hours
There are 23 residents who have tested positive and are being cared for at the facility.
Read on here and don't look forward to getting old!!!!
https://www.9news.com.au/national/aged- ... 69e40099d6
""They are dropping like flies""
Not like you couldn't do with a few less of them
-
- Posts: 1355
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:56 am
Re: It is rough if you are old in Victoria
BigP is a tough Maori war chief.
But now why aged care needs purging. One suspects the Vic "Govt" is secretly relieved at each death in the retirement homes.
To avoid growing old just die!! Euthanasia to the rescue ?
MONEY | Why the aged care sector has been hardest hit by the pandemic
Noel Whittaker AUGUST 15 2020 - 12:00PM
Potential credit crunch looms over aged care industry
Australia is facing challenging times on all fronts, but one sector of the economy is facing particularly tough times.
Since COVID-19 struck, the federal government has committed more than $545m in funding to support home care and residential aged care providers, and the government's My Aged Care service. Unfortunately, even that is going to fall a long way short of what is really needed.
This is because COVID-19 represents a far greater cost to the industry than the obvious increased expenses of additional staff, training and personal protective equipment. There is potentially a huge credit crunch looming for the industry's almost $30bn accommodation deposits. This is because the aged care industry works somewhat like a legal Ponzi scheme: incoming residents pay a bond, and when they leave, the bond is refunded to their estate. But there is no legal requirement for the aged care home to hold that money in trust for future withdrawals.
The system works as long as the funds paid to outgoing residents are matched by the funds received from incoming ones. And until recently, they were; there was a waiting list for aged care places. But now the landscape has changed. The number of people entering aged care is dropping, and the number who are dying is increasing. Furthermore, a weak property market, combined with favourable aged care and social security means testing of the former home, means that more and more incoming residents are choosing to pay by daily fee instead of by a one-off lump sum payment.
Industry expert Cam Ansell says, "if Australia follows the UK, we could expect to see $9.5bn of accommodation deposits needing to be refunded by Christmas."
Read on here as the cash burns up.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... -industry/
But now why aged care needs purging. One suspects the Vic "Govt" is secretly relieved at each death in the retirement homes.
To avoid growing old just die!! Euthanasia to the rescue ?
MONEY | Why the aged care sector has been hardest hit by the pandemic
Noel Whittaker AUGUST 15 2020 - 12:00PM
Potential credit crunch looms over aged care industry
Australia is facing challenging times on all fronts, but one sector of the economy is facing particularly tough times.
Since COVID-19 struck, the federal government has committed more than $545m in funding to support home care and residential aged care providers, and the government's My Aged Care service. Unfortunately, even that is going to fall a long way short of what is really needed.
This is because COVID-19 represents a far greater cost to the industry than the obvious increased expenses of additional staff, training and personal protective equipment. There is potentially a huge credit crunch looming for the industry's almost $30bn accommodation deposits. This is because the aged care industry works somewhat like a legal Ponzi scheme: incoming residents pay a bond, and when they leave, the bond is refunded to their estate. But there is no legal requirement for the aged care home to hold that money in trust for future withdrawals.
The system works as long as the funds paid to outgoing residents are matched by the funds received from incoming ones. And until recently, they were; there was a waiting list for aged care places. But now the landscape has changed. The number of people entering aged care is dropping, and the number who are dying is increasing. Furthermore, a weak property market, combined with favourable aged care and social security means testing of the former home, means that more and more incoming residents are choosing to pay by daily fee instead of by a one-off lump sum payment.
Industry expert Cam Ansell says, "if Australia follows the UK, we could expect to see $9.5bn of accommodation deposits needing to be refunded by Christmas."
Read on here as the cash burns up.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... -industry/
-
- Posts: 1355
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:56 am
Re: It is rough if you are old in Victoria
The coffin makers are doing good business at the old folks homes. Is this a trial of euthanasia ? Is this a way of reducing the cost of elderly care ?
Australia: Residents left to die as COVID-19 sweeps through Victorian aged care facilities
By Clare Bruderlin 14 August 2020
As COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly through aged care facilities in Victoria, reports have emerged of infected residents being denied hospitalisation and left to die in homes that are understaffed and unequipped to treat coronavirus patients.
At least 198 COVID-19 deaths in Australia have been in aged care homes, accounting for well over half the total. With 1,929 active cases amongst residents and staff, further tragic losses are anticipated. Inadequate personal protective equipment [PPE], infection control measures and staffing levels have created the conditions for the highly contagious virus to sweep through the facilities.
Now, an article by the Australian has alleged that the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is turning away “frail, elderly COVID-positive patients” from hospitals. Citing an anonymous senior federal official, the paper said DHHS said it did not have enough hospital beds for “those type of people at this point in time.”
COVID-19 testing site in the Melbourne suburb of Fawkner (Photo: @JoanWil85024201, Twitter)
Dr Robert Hoffman told the Australian that at Glenlyn Aged Care Facility, the Royal Melbourne Hospital had originally arranged to transfer patients at risk of “wandering” and infecting others to hospital, but then cancelled these plans. Instead, Dr Hoffman said, “Any COVID residents who were unwell were ordered as needed palliative care medications, morphine etc., one [resident was] as young as 46.” Some 15 patients and five staff have tested positive at the facility.
Raquel Silvera, whose husband is in Glenlyn Aged Care Facility, said she found out that her husband had COVID-19 on Friday last week and that he was being sedated using Risperidone, an antipsychotic, without her permission.
The use of chemical sedation in aged care was already widespread prior to the pandemic. A submission to the ongoing Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety last year revealed more than half (61 percent) of aged care residents were taking psychotropic agents regularly, the most common of these being antidepressants.
Another submission stated that up to 80 percent of dementia patients are taking some form of psychotropic drug. One witness told the royal commission that chemical restraints were used “because there are not enough staff” to manage residents, particularly those with high care needs.
Some 123 nursing homes have seen outbreaks of Covid-19 since May, when governments began lifting lockdown restrictions in line with the demands of big business to “reopen the economy.”
The federal health department, which is responsible for overseeing most of the facilities, has refused to release a list of aged care centres where outbreaks have occurred. Health department secretary Brendan Murphy stated that this is because the lucrative corporations that own the homes are “worried about reputational issues,” i.e., their profit margins.
Read on here and be glad you are not real old
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/0 ... e-a13.html
Australia: Residents left to die as COVID-19 sweeps through Victorian aged care facilities
By Clare Bruderlin 14 August 2020
As COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly through aged care facilities in Victoria, reports have emerged of infected residents being denied hospitalisation and left to die in homes that are understaffed and unequipped to treat coronavirus patients.
At least 198 COVID-19 deaths in Australia have been in aged care homes, accounting for well over half the total. With 1,929 active cases amongst residents and staff, further tragic losses are anticipated. Inadequate personal protective equipment [PPE], infection control measures and staffing levels have created the conditions for the highly contagious virus to sweep through the facilities.
Now, an article by the Australian has alleged that the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is turning away “frail, elderly COVID-positive patients” from hospitals. Citing an anonymous senior federal official, the paper said DHHS said it did not have enough hospital beds for “those type of people at this point in time.”
COVID-19 testing site in the Melbourne suburb of Fawkner (Photo: @JoanWil85024201, Twitter)
Dr Robert Hoffman told the Australian that at Glenlyn Aged Care Facility, the Royal Melbourne Hospital had originally arranged to transfer patients at risk of “wandering” and infecting others to hospital, but then cancelled these plans. Instead, Dr Hoffman said, “Any COVID residents who were unwell were ordered as needed palliative care medications, morphine etc., one [resident was] as young as 46.” Some 15 patients and five staff have tested positive at the facility.
Raquel Silvera, whose husband is in Glenlyn Aged Care Facility, said she found out that her husband had COVID-19 on Friday last week and that he was being sedated using Risperidone, an antipsychotic, without her permission.
The use of chemical sedation in aged care was already widespread prior to the pandemic. A submission to the ongoing Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety last year revealed more than half (61 percent) of aged care residents were taking psychotropic agents regularly, the most common of these being antidepressants.
Another submission stated that up to 80 percent of dementia patients are taking some form of psychotropic drug. One witness told the royal commission that chemical restraints were used “because there are not enough staff” to manage residents, particularly those with high care needs.
Some 123 nursing homes have seen outbreaks of Covid-19 since May, when governments began lifting lockdown restrictions in line with the demands of big business to “reopen the economy.”
The federal health department, which is responsible for overseeing most of the facilities, has refused to release a list of aged care centres where outbreaks have occurred. Health department secretary Brendan Murphy stated that this is because the lucrative corporations that own the homes are “worried about reputational issues,” i.e., their profit margins.
Read on here and be glad you are not real old
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/0 ... e-a13.html
- BigP
- Posts: 4970
- Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2018 3:56 pm
Re: It is rough if you are old in Victoria
Juliar wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 8:08 pmThe coffin makers are doing good business at the old folks homes. Is this a trial of euthanasia ? Is this a way of reducing the cost of elderly care ?
Australia: Residents left to die as COVID-19 sweeps through Victorian aged care facilities
By Clare Bruderlin 14 August 2020
As COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly through aged care facilities in Victoria, reports have emerged of infected residents being denied hospitalisation and left to die in homes that are understaffed and unequipped to treat coronavirus patients.
At least 198 COVID-19 deaths in Australia have been in aged care homes, accounting for well over half the total. With 1,929 active cases amongst residents and staff, further tragic losses are anticipated. Inadequate personal protective equipment [PPE], infection control measures and staffing levels have created the conditions for the highly contagious virus to sweep through the facilities.
Now, an article by the Australian has alleged that the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is turning away “frail, elderly COVID-positive patients” from hospitals. Citing an anonymous senior federal official, the paper said DHHS said it did not have enough hospital beds for “those type of people at this point in time.”
COVID-19 testing site in the Melbourne suburb of Fawkner (Photo: @JoanWil85024201, Twitter)
Dr Robert Hoffman told the Australian that at Glenlyn Aged Care Facility, the Royal Melbourne Hospital had originally arranged to transfer patients at risk of “wandering” and infecting others to hospital, but then cancelled these plans. Instead, Dr Hoffman said, “Any COVID residents who were unwell were ordered as needed palliative care medications, morphine etc., one [resident was] as young as 46.” Some 15 patients and five staff have tested positive at the facility.
Raquel Silvera, whose husband is in Glenlyn Aged Care Facility, said she found out that her husband had COVID-19 on Friday last week and that he was being sedated using Risperidone, an antipsychotic, without her permission.
The use of chemical sedation in aged care was already widespread prior to the pandemic. A submission to the ongoing Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety last year revealed more than half (61 percent) of aged care residents were taking psychotropic agents regularly, the most common of these being antidepressants.
Another submission stated that up to 80 percent of dementia patients are taking some form of psychotropic drug. One witness told the royal commission that chemical restraints were used “because there are not enough staff” to manage residents, particularly those with high care needs.
Some 123 nursing homes have seen outbreaks of Covid-19 since May, when governments began lifting lockdown restrictions in line with the demands of big business to “reopen the economy.”
The federal health department, which is responsible for overseeing most of the facilities, has refused to release a list of aged care centres where outbreaks have occurred. Health department secretary Brendan Murphy stated that this is because the lucrative corporations that own the homes are “worried about reputational issues,” i.e., their profit margins.
Read on here and be glad you are not real old
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/0 ... e-a13.html
"" Is this a trial of euthanasia ? Is this a way of reducing the cost of elderly care ?""
Lets call it serendipity shall we
-
- Posts: 1355
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:56 am
Re: It is rough if you are old in Victoria
BigP, don't get too complacent as the VIRUS is surging again in NZ.
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 78 guests