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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-04-28 Daily Xml
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Coronavirus

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:57): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Health and Wellbeing a question about aged-care lockdowns.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: My office has been inundated with calls and inquiries from distressed family members unable to visit their elderly loved ones living in aged-care facilities that are blatantly refusing to relax visitation restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. These arrogant facilities have refused to budge, despite pleas from the most senior public health officer in the land, the Prime Minister, the Premier and South Australia's Health CEO. The latter wrote to all South Australian-based residential care facilities late last week, emphasising the fact that residents are permitted to receive one care and support visit per day by up to two people.

Only today, Elizabeth Goulding celebrated her 100th birthday, such an outstanding milestone, at a Resthaven facility at Malvern. She had to do so with her family looking through a window. She couldn't even be with them, blow out a candle, cut a cake or even have a photo taken—disgraceful. Resthaven should hang their head in shame.

With Mother's Day on 10 May, all this behaviour is tantamount to elderly abuse. I thank the minister for his recent and very prompt reply to a letter I sent him last week on behalf of a highly distressed constituent, who, along with her elderly mother, has been banned from visiting her elderly father in the Wesley House aged-care facility at Semaphore. I also congratulate him and the state government on their proactive work in trying to get these facilities to reduce their visitor restrictions. My questions to the minister are:

1. Given their blatant reluctance to budge from their current positions, what legal powers does the government have to demand aged-care facilities relax visitation restrictions?

2. What, if any, legal powers do these providers have to be able to ignore advice of both the federal and state governments to soften visitor restrictions?

3. Is the minister consulting with the federal government to impose sanctions or funding cuts to facilities that refuse to ease visitor restrictions?

4. Can you confirm that unannounced audits to aged-care facilities have either stopped, or will they resume?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:00): Could I just thank the honourable member for his question and join him in congratulating Elizabeth Goulding on her birthday. The honourable member is completely correct that the commonwealth and the state governments share the view that the residential aged-care facilities should maintain visits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I certainly appreciate the concern amongst operators of residential aged-care facilities at the risks, and to be frank one of the four sectors that was identified very early in the COVID-19 pandemic as an area of risk was residential facilities, both aged care and disability. So neither the federal nor the state government is saying that this is not a challenge for operators.

But the national cabinet of federal and state governments also know that this is not a short period—this is likely to be a significant period—and that, whilst it might be reasonable to stop visits for a short period, the impact of sustained closures, sustained lockouts, on the quality of life of residents in residential aged-care facilities could be significant. Whilst we have seen horrendous, tragic loss of life in residents of residential aged-care facilities overseas, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States, as I understand that there is no case in Australia of an infection into a residential aged-care facility as a result of a visit.

The public health clinicians developed a set of principles in terms of controlling access to the facilities. Visits need to be limited to a short duration; there should be only one social support visit permitted a day, with one or two people visiting; visits should be conducted in a resident's room, outdoors or in a specific area.

In relation to visits and a number of other respects, a number of operators have gone above and beyond what is recommended by the public health clinicians and is reflected in the directions that have been put in place by government. That is a concern to the government because of the quality of life issues I referred to.

I want to make it clear that, whilst I have publicly expressed my concern, and a number of other parties that the honourable member referred to have also expressed their concern, I do not ascribe malice to the operators. Many of these are well-established, trusted residential aged-care providers. It is just that the government's view and the public health officers' view is that in this case they haven't got the balance right. We do not believe it is necessary, in terms of infection control, to impose some of the restrictions that are being imposed.

I want to make it clear that in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, SA Health has been regularly meeting with the aged-care industry. In my understanding often those meetings might be more than one a week. I am taking the opportunity tomorrow with the Chief Public Health Officer to meet again with age sector representatives to try to help them understand the government's perspective and the principles underlying the public health officers' advice, reflected in the direction and supported by national cabinet.

We are keen to work with them to, first of all, keep their residents safe but also to minimise the impact on quality of life of residents of aged-care facilities in their other domains.

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