For the first time in its nearly 65 year history, Bushland Health Group, which operates three residential aged care homes and six retirement villages in Taree and the surrounding area, is finding it difficult to recruit aged care workers, and is operating at a loss.
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Chairman of the Bushland Health Group, Graham Brown, says by far the main issue with attracting and retraining workers is the low pay rates of both aged care workers and registered nurses.
Mr Brown said there is a significant disparity in the pay of registered nurses working in hospitals and nurses working in aged care.
"They come out of the university with exactly the same qualification, straight into a 15 per cent drop in pay compared to their mates who went through uni with them," he said.
The ABC program the 7.30 Report of March 15, 2022 reported a worse scenario, with entry level registered nurses having a disparity of between 25 to 30 per cent, and highest level nurses up to 48 per cent, even though doing the same work.
Aged care workers have it even tougher. Errol Curran, Bushland's director of aged care services, said that aged care workers typically are paid around $24.80 per hour, even less if they have no experience. The Australian Aged Care Collaboration said on March 23 that a support worker can earn more in hospitality or retail.
Such low pay rates are not attracting people to the aged care sector. TAFE NSW Taree campus has 30 places available in its Certificate III Individual Support (Ageing) course, however only 14 students are taking the course this year, Mr Curran said.
The acute shortage of staff has forced Bushland Health Group to source staff from an agency, with 80 per cent of their registered nurses now being supplied by the agency.
"We've joined the Pacific Workforce program. We've got nine Fijians. It took us a year to get nine," Mr Brown said.
And it's costing them 20 per cent more than it would were they not having to use an agency.
Mr Brown said as a result of the workforce shortages and their wish to maintain standards, they have downsized the number of beds in their homes to ensure they will have a workforce to resident ratio that will result in all care and programs meeting the individual needs of residents.
The adjustments have included: halving the number of available beds in the dementia unit at Banyula Lodge, Old Bar; not opening the recently completed 14 bed extension of Banyula Lodge, and operating Karingal Gardens and Alkira Lodge at an occupancy of 80-85 per cent.
As a non-profit organisation, Mr Brown said it wasn't that they didn't want to pay their workers higher wages themselves, but their revenue was set by the government.
The federal government provides 80 per cent of the funding for all aged car homes. Currently, 75 per cent of Bushland Health Group's funding goes towards wages.
The Fair Work Commission is currently considering a case put forward by unions for a 25 per cent pay rise for both aged care workers and registered nurses working in aged care, however the decision is not expected until the latter half of this year.
Former Aged Care Royal Commissioner, Lynelle Briggs warned the government of an impending crisis in the aged care sector in the Royal Commission report that was tabled in March, 2021.
Of the 148 recommendations in the report, the government accepted fully or partly 126 of the recommendations.
Recommendation 84, an increase to award wages, was not accepted by the government.
"The government needs to realise that we're all going broke because they're not giving us the income that's needed to be paid to the nurses and it's being paid anyway," Mr Brown said.
"They've got to act fast."
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Julia Driscoll
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times for seven years. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Career highlights have involved environmental stories - bringing the plight of the little known endangered Manning River helmeted turtle to the attention of the public, resulting in wide-spread knowledge in the community and conservation action; and breaking the news of the Manning River ceasing to run for the first time in recorded history.
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times for seven years. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Career highlights have involved environmental stories - bringing the plight of the little known endangered Manning River helmeted turtle to the attention of the public, resulting in wide-spread knowledge in the community and conservation action; and breaking the news of the Manning River ceasing to run for the first time in recorded history.
