1/ Thread-Aged Care Bail Out, Sexual Assault, Neglect & more
LNP's Aged Care model;
Providers are now to big to fail,
Govt now paying 'Staff Retention bonuses' to prevent collapse,
I invite you on a journey of neglect, incompetence, lies, cronyism and deadly secrecy.
2/
The Royal Commissions ‘profitability & viability’ report has two revealing statements
“Property investment is a significant feature of Aged Care providers.”
AND
“55% of profits are from non-aged care activities”

It looks like the elderly residents are incidental necessities
3/
Tax payers are funding over 70% of Aged Care places. The top 6 companies ‘care’ for 34,500 elderly. BUPA & OPAL (listed on London & Singapore stock xchanges) Tax payers $$ feeds dividends 2 overseas interests. BUPA is the largest & has failed 1/2 of the basic safety standards
4/
BUPA is not alone, over 30% of aged care places are putting the health & safety of our elderly at risk.
The laws provide for financial penalties & revocation of accreditation, but we can't as its near impossible to rehouse hundreds of our elderly.
5/
Of Bupa's 72 nursing homes:
34% have “Serious Risk” vs industry avg of 6%
17% have Sanctions vs industry avg of 2%
45 failed health & safety standards
Bupa had to pay the ATO $157 million after ‘profit shifting’
The corporate structure symbolically puts care at the bottom
6/
1997 saw many protections removed such as Aged Care owners passing “Probity Checks”. Combining flawed laws with cronyism & secrecy amplified the failures of Aged Care. ALP inherited a failed system & tried 2 create clear accountability by taking full responsibility 4 Aged Care
7/
The picture below shows/highlights key changes. What would seem like an inconsequential change was the mandatory reporting of residents going missing, combines with assault reports reveal a disturbing trend in Aged Care.
8/ The most significant change to Aged Care since the 1997 Aged Care act was the Living Longer, Living Better strategy. Originating from the 700 page productivity Report it gave us the ‘My Aged Care’ website, published records for audits, compliance & accreditation.
9/ The LNP have had taskforces, strategies, inquiries, senate committee and more to try and solve the Workforce problem. The ALP had developed a ‘workforce compact’ which was a 5 year temporary measure to increase staff wages while a permanent model could be developed.
10/ The Liberal and National parties dropped a surprise on the last sitting days before Christmas, gagging debate, please read what Tony Burke said as the only debate on taking $1.2 billion from health care workers pay
11/ Massive increases in elder abuse, under staffing, under skilling, low wages, ageing workforce, unprofitable providers, massive subsidies 4 all providers, additional subsidies for regional & remote places, retention payments to keep staff in Aged Care. AGED CARE IS IN CRISIS
12/ Aged Care Inquiries & Reports have made consultants rich. The Liberals have become experts in having inquiries, saying they agree with the recommendations & then doing nothing. Some of these recommendations would’ve saved lives in COVID had they been acted upon at the time
13/
Earle Havens bankruptcy left 62 elderly homeless. The inquiry gave us “Recommendation 21” “..create response plans for situations when an imminent collapse is likely”. Had the Liberals done this, many lives would’ve been saved from COVID
14/
Newmarch & St Basils were the first big Aged Care outbreaks, they lost all staff. Had recommendation 21 been adopted these places wouldn’t have been left with young, inexperienced replacement staff who struggled with English
15/
Dr MacIntyre may well have the best possible resume for someone to give advice on COVID. Dr MacIntyre warned the government about the issues with the National Stockpile a year before COVID-19. Yet again, if Scott Morrison actually did his job, lives would’ve been saved
16/ Scott Morrison neglect of the National Stockpile, resulted in requests from Victoria being rejected 364 times.
The horrific stories from overseas Aged Care places failed to get Scott Morrison to act. How many lives were lost because of his neglect.
17/
The shocking neglect by the LNP has received little attention from the Main stream media. This is likely due to the vested interests & cronyism. Kerry Stokes has a $100M investment in Estia Aged Care, Estia had 33 deaths in 4 places.
18/
Chanel 7 joined in the ‘blame Dan’ campaign, perhaps to deflect blame from the Aged Care providers themselves. Sickening is the big players hiring “Apollo Communications” (run by ex Daily Telegraph political reporter & former advisor to John Howard, Adam Connolly).
19/
The Royal Commission into Aged Care was inevitable with the flow of scandals increasing in regularity. The RC delivered an interim report in 2019, this was prior to COVID revealing the Liberal parties neglect and the operators unsafe work practises.
20/
Even with the Liberals dictating the terms of reference & selecting its preferred commissioner the report was scathing. The report was titled “NEGLECT”, the report contained 30 instances of NEGLECT and began the body of the report with the title “A SHOCKING TALE OF NEGLECT”.
21/
For an interim report to be so definitive about the failings of the government is without precedent. Comments like “Neglect that diminishes Australia as a nation” & “Years of systematic neglect” should have resulted in Aged Care becoming the number one priority.
22/ Scott Morrison ignored & deflected the report. Had Scott Morrison acted on the recommendations, many elderly lives could’ve been saved.
23/ The negotiation with the states for transfer of residential, home care & disability services was not easy. Achieving this with minority government should be recognised as an amazing achievement, particularly at it resulted in more accountability for the federal government
24/ The ALP’s reform program was halted when the LNP took over, and Scott Morrison listened to “For Profit” providers and lowered the standards. The new set of 8 standard looked pretty, but as evidence shows, elder abuse, sexual abuse and neglect climbed higher
25/ Perhaps the most significant factor in having zero deaths in State Govt owned places was the legislation of minimum staffing levels. Both QLD & Victoria have these laws. While all places not State government owned have an immeasurable requirement for staff levels or skills.
26/
After destroying the $1.2 workers Compaq the Aged Care industry had an increase in staffing issues, examples of 1 staff member for 50 residents became common. Scott Morrison could’ve used the Senate report, but ignored that report.
27/ Scott Morrison instead created a new workforce taskforce without including anyone from the workforce on the committee. This taskforce created a strategy, this strategy was ignored for a while.
28/ ALP’s continued pressure prompted the Liberals to do something. The liberal party created a limited tender to pay consultants how to set up a team to then implement the strategy. The description of the tender is an embarrassing chronology of inaction
29/ The seeds of disaster were planted when the flawed Aged Care Act was created. Removing the “Workforce Compact”, Cutting funding, lowering standards, planning to outsource auditing and accreditation are leading to massive increase in elder abuse
30/ The Liberal party's neglect was evident from the beginning. The failures of Aged Care during COVID didn't result from one or two decisions, it was the culmination of years of neglect & a refusal to have measurable responsibilities like staffing levels or skills onto Aged Care
31/ providers. This was highlighted by EVERY COVID DEATH occurring in private places. A combination of appropriate staffing levels, skills mix and permanent staff provided the state government places a buffer to allow staff to take sick leave and not work across multiple places.
32/ Scott Morrison & Brendan Murphy's casual attitude and anti-mask messages undermined experts messages. News Corps no mask narrative likely lead people to not take COVID seriously, especially when Scott Morrison publically said the restrictions on Aged Care was unnecessary
33/ Scott Morrison chose to keep secret the details from Newmarch and St Basils to protect ‘reputational damage’ Critically the guidance to Aged Care providers was to plan for 20-30% staff loss. Newmarch & St Basils lost near 100%. The government kept the
34/
inaccurate advice in the CDNA document and 2 months later included the new percentage figure in a separate document. It is a fair assumption that had the government warned of 100% staff losses planning would’ve been different
35/ 2016 saw Scott Morrison announce $1.2B + $400M of savings in Aged Care. Most savings came from changing the ‘rating of ‘complex health care’. Residential Aged Care people are rated across 3 domains, Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Behaviour (BEH) & Complex Health Care (CHC)
36/ these ratings match to points, the higher the points the more money is provided. Scott Morrison reduced the points from tasks like taking Blood Pressure, assisting people with oedemas.
37/ While people with higher needs result in more money for Aged Care provider, the provider is not required to spend that money on hiring more or higher skilled staff. Shown below are the 3 domain and needs criteria. The highest needs are 'Complex Health Needs' (CHS).
38/ The yellow chart below shows the reduction in funding resulting from Scott Morrisons re-ranking of how CHC is scored. The table shows the budget numbers from Scott Morrisons budget. Industry modelling found flaws and put the total cuts at over $2B
39/
Revenue lowered & effectively fixed, Aged Care providers needed lower costs. The money spent on food & nutritional needs were reduced to an avg of $6.08 p/person p/day. Many people need assistance to eat, but their isn't enough staff, leading to high levels of malnutrition
40/ Providers got savings from food. Maggie Beer provided evidence to the Royal Commission that it is impossible to provide the required nutrition and fresh food for $6 per day. Contrast the $6 for our elderly with the $181 tax free given to politicians
41/ Poorly staffed places with hyper casualised workforces created the perfect environment for COVID to run rampant in. Staff were already dissatisfied prior to COVID, surveys showed 40% were intending to leave within the next 5 yrs.
COVID accelerated this & some places were
42/
likely to be closed due to no staff, consequently the govt has been forced to bail out the industry by paying ‘retention bonuses’. Tax Payers are now paying to because of Liberals neglect. Tax payers are even giving money to giant providers listed on stock exchanges.
43/ These providers are still paying there executive massive salaries, bonuses & dividends (incl super rich ppl like Kerry Stokes). Tax payers are saving providers who had many deaths and failed safety standards. The total budget 4 ‘retention bonuses’ is $450M
44/ The most recent audits of the 28 deadliest places shows a shocking level of non-compliance. It's worth noting that each audit only assesses 4 of 8 standards, so the reports created may not be revealing the true extent of non-compliance (Thx @cayteya 4 help deciphering this)
45/ Along with the ‘bonus payments’ Scott Morrison and Richard Colbeck told a porkie to sweeten the deal. They said the bonuses would be tax free (See press release). However he walked back on that and tried to say he never said it
46/ The most recent quarterly report shows a staggering level of non-compliance. 32% of places inspected had at least one non-compliance, with 5 places have in excess of 20 non compliances. Most disturbingly is 80% of review audits finding non compliances
47/ The September monthly report shows a shocking level of non-compliance. This must be viewed as a ‘screaming alarm siren’ Only a small sample of places are audited each month & Scott Morrison thinks outsourcing compliance checking will help (his mate will benefit)
48/ The last two images showed quarterly and monthly reports. The next image is a recent performance report for a single place (Grace of Mary which had 11 COVID deaths). In both the 2016 & 2019 inspections it received perfect scores, an inspection last October showed extensive
49/ issues and non-compliances. Scott Morrison cost savings include only inspecting 1/2 of the standards each visit. The picture shows the most recent ½ standards inspection. At what point are residents evacuated
50/ “DO BETTER NEXT TIME”, that is penalty applied for running an unsafe Aged Care facility. Listed below is the full list of “Penalties/Actions” resulting from endangering our elderly. Aged Care is so broken that genuine penalties or revocation of license is not possible.
51/ One of the many ways the Aged Care market is flawed is the business model. Staff are easy to find and big operators use them across multiple places. Most regional places are not profitable leading to these needing more Govt or Not 4 Profits providers.
52/ The RC has shown “sophisticated operators" are making higher profits from property than they are by caring for our elderly.
The required capital growth for property investment creates concentration of 'private' operators where staff rotate around taking illnesses with them.
53/ Newmarch (19 Deaths) is a prime example of the broken business model. Their CEO formally the global tax reduction specialist who pushed cokes money through Liechtenstein. Newmarch ran out of staff when COVID took hold. Aged Care should not require global tax specialists
54/
Gary Barnier resigned as CEO of OPAL Aged Care. He left prior to investigations involving maggots in a residents mouth, bribery and other issues could be completed. Reappointing him into the statutory authority “Aged Care Financing Authority?” is offensive to OPALs victims.
55/ Scott Morrison not only reappointed Gary to the Aged Care Finance Authority, but has given him nearly $1M over two contracts. The contracts were awarded without tender
56/ Another example of the multiple failures of the Aged Care market is Epping Gardens, the multi-millionaire owners who somehow passed the 2018 audit, now have massive non-compliances. The penalty/’Areas for improvement’ are “Do better next time”
57/ Scott Morrison loves China, he bragged about his inclusion of Aged Care into CHAFTA in 2015 (below). Following CHAFTA, long time liberal donors, the Morans’ quickly expanded into China. Morans advised on the 1997 Aged Care Act
58/ Showing great compassion, Shane Moran complained when the RC was called b/c of the reputational damage he would suffer, while having zero concern for the elderly victims. The Morans have a colourful life, including suing each other over 250K (Lose change for them)
59/ Cabinet papers from 2000 revealed the Liberal party was fully aware of the extensive problems in Aged Care after the Kerosene bathing scandal. We now know the Liberal party consciously chose to not act on advice to have staff ratios b/c it would impact profits.
60/ Do it properly the first time or pay billions more later. Scott Morrisons neglect of the National Stockpile, Aged Care workforce or even a Pandemic plan for the elderly was a bonanza for ASPEN Medical who got $1.2B in contracts with negligible oversight.
61/ Eagar, who has undertaken research commissioned by the Royal Commission into the adequacy of residential aged care staffing, found that quality and safety in homes is driven by four factors: total staff numbers, staff skill mix, staff continuity, and clinical governance.
62/ his research and insight is backed by international adoption of what I call the star model. The unions ANMF have submitted expensive information about this into multiple inquiries and the RC. With substantial evidence of its success and support from Aged Care workers,
63/ I can only guess it's not being adopted b/c Scott Morrison would never do what Unions think is good. Its beauty is the public can see the star rating, knowing it's a reflection of care, safety etc. while its provides a clear roadmap for how providers can obtain higher ratings
64/ The pictures below are taken from @anmf_federal
submission to the Royal Commission. In these pictures you can see staffing requirements (number and skills) Ratios, time available for actually caring. The ANMF are clearly experts who know how to improve the care of our elderly
65/ Applying the Star Model to Australia shows the majority of Australian Aged Care places are only 1 or 2 stars. The star model has many benefits, from ease of reading by residents and families, but it also gives clear requirements for providers who want to improve.
66/ This thread was going to be a short summary of Scott Morrisons neglect. The Liberal and National party have been neglectful in so many different ways. Neglect of the elderly has become the cultural norm. I’ll finish with a few quotes from the Senate report into COVID
67/ The Liberal appointed Royal Commission exposed the Neglect. Neglect of our elderly & the staff who look after them. COVID has only drawn attention to it
Scott Morrison neglected our elderly
Liberals neglected our elderly
Save our elderly, vote for @AustralianLabor @AlboMP
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