Aged care workers untrained for COVID: National survey

Aged care workers are reporting large gaps in infection control preparedness with training and resources, according to a United Workers Union survey of 1000 healthcare workers taken between May and June this year. It identified:

• A third of residential aged care workers received no additional training in coronavirus safety or correctly using PPE
• More than two thirds of aged care workers believe they are not prepared to deal with a coronavirus outbreak
• Four in 10 workers believe their aged care facility has not communicated their infection plan well.
• A third of home care workers do not have enough supplies of hand sanitiser and gloves.

As Victoria grapples with its worst weekend of the pandemic and dozens of COVID deaths predicted in the next fortnight, the nationwide survey reveals a third of aged care workers are not trained to use PPE correctly. Almost a third of residential aged care workers said they had received no additional training in coronavirus safety measures or how to use personal protective equipment correctly. Three in four nursing home workers said they didn’t have enough staff to provide quality care, while a third of home care workers said they did not have enough supplies of hand sanitiser and gloves. Four in 10 workers believed their residential aged care facility had not communicated its infection plan, while 90% said they did not have enough time to complete tasks. United Workers Union aged care director Carolyn Smith says the results showed big gaps in resources and preparedness with workers reporting they felt “unprepared, untrained and unsafe” during the pandemic. She said the union has called on the federal government to increase funding and improve workers’ wages and conditions in its submission to the Aged Care Royal Commission.