Mandated nurse to resident ratios in aged care facilities and addressing nurses and carers' "spectacularly inadequate" wages are key recommendations in the ANF (Vic Branch) submission to the Productivity Commission's aged care inquiry.
The 125-page submission identifies the presence of registered nurses as the crucial linchpin to providing quality care and that this "inconvenient truth" in aged care can no longer be ignored.
The ANF (Vic Branch) has made 14 recommendations in its initial submission covering issues from recognising aged care as part of the health system to funding transparency and improving wages and skills mix.
ANF warns the Federal Government that ignoring the looming crisis risks a catastrophic impact on aged care and the wider health system as they will become overwhelmed by the growing medical and nursing needs of residents.
"Faced with these consequences, ANF (Vic Branch) contends that there is no room for continuing inaction and every imperative for the Australian Government to make the bold, brave and enduring reform of the aged care system that is required for the sustainability of aged and health care services into the future."
The Productivity Commission is expected to make its final report to the Federal Government in April 2011.
