Please sign the Parliamentary E-Petition on the GP shortage!

Click this link and then go to "Do you wish to sign this E-Petition?" and click "Yes".

You can also forward the peition to your friends by clicking "Email this link to a colleague".

Aged Care Volunteer Crisis

By Diane Morgan, CEO, Volunteering Queensland
(11 April 2008)

A woman, well advanced in years, lies in a hospital bed with no relatives or friends at her bedside. A meal is delivered by catering staff who return later to find the patient has not touched her food. ‘Not feeling hungry today?’ says the catering person and takes the cold food away.

No one has noticed that the patient is actually too weak or unwell to feed herself. In the absence of friends or relatives, and because nurses are too busy with more urgent medical tasks, she misses her meal. She misses a lot of meals that way and becomes weaker.

This scene is repeated many times every day, in hospitals and aged care facilities across the country. In some cases, the patient ends up suffering from malnutrition in the centre of a busy hospital or aged care facility in the heart of one of the most prosperous nations on earth.

So why is this happening? Not too long ago there were volunteers who provided this service, willingly and with great care and efficiency. The surprising and distressing fact is that volunteers are being prevented from performing these often life saving tasks as a direct result of a growing culture of risk management anxiety accelerated by government legislation.

All this is happening at a time when there are more people than ever willing to serve as volunteers in jobs that have a challenge and provide the volunteer with the opportunity to make a difference. This is supported by the number of people registering with Volunteer Centres across the country and by the official ABS statistics. But they are being literally turned away from working in hospitals and aged care facilities by policies that prevent volunteers from performing such basic but significant tasks as pushing a wheel chair, providing a simple massage or supporting a patient at meal time who has no visiting relatives or friends.

So what’s the solution? If governments are anxious about risk management and want to raise the bar on the requirements that cover people working with patients in hospitals and aged care facilities, why not simply raise the level of training, accreditation and supervision for volunteers working in these areas? This provides a safe environment for both the patients and the volunteers.

Quality volunteer training is a well established entity in a range of disciplines in community organisations right across the country. It has long been the cornerstone of good volunteer management. Volunteers who are properly trained and supervised should be allowed to use their gifts of time and skills to improve the quality of life of the ever increasing number of patients who are not being fed properly and are denied someone to simply push their wheel chair.

Not surprisingly, hospitals and aged care facilities are now complaining louder than ever that they can’t get volunteers. The bad news for them is that their problem is only going to get worse as long as volunteers are progressively restricted to menial, mundane and boring tasks with no challenge and no reward. Who would want a job like that, paid or unpaid? Someone, for instance, who is a retired professional person willing to undertake appropriate training and work under proper supervision, is not going to respond well to being told that all they are permitted to do is change the water in the flowers or run errands.

The problem is now reaching crisis proportions. There is a way forward if governments and the administrators of hospitals and aged care facilities are prepared to take up the challenge. If they are prepared to invest in training volunteers and providing proper supervision, it will open the door to large numbers of people offering to volunteer. In addition, if they are prepared to be flexible on simple things like rotating rosters, and working towards generic accreditation across regions and state borders and between agencies, it would build enormous good will with potential volunteers and ensure they stay on and remain interested in what they doing.

There are indications that some health and aged care facilities are willing to move in a positive direction. Volunteering Queensland is currently in negotiation with a major Brisbane hospital to put in place a program to recruit and train volunteers to perform tasks such as being available to assist at meal time. It is to be hoped that many more will follow.

Health reports by Maida Lilly

Message from NSW Ambulance Service

Only takes a minute and very worthwhile!

We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory. If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency) Campaign.

The concept of 'ICE' is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name 'ICE' ( In Case Of Emergency).

The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialling the number you have stored as 'ICE'.

Please forward this. It won't take too many 'forwards' before everybody will know about this. It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest. For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc.

Disability parking permit reference group

At a recent follow-up meeting to an earlier consultation, it was heartening to learn that the Queensland Department of Transport researcher and his assistant had taken note of much that had been raised by earlier participants.

The number of permits in circulation currently is of concern, especially temporary permits. All permits should have to be returned when they are no longer required or if they have expired, even if they are to be re-issued, due to continuing need.

The disability parking permit is issued for those with mobility problems. The blue permit is for those who need to use wheelchairs or large walkers, while currently the red permit is granted to persons who have difficulty walking for any distance or accessing public transport. Your doctor’s recommendation is required.

Queensland is the only place in the world with two types of permit. The blue disability logo is recognised world wide. This can cause confusion.

In the greater Brisbane area, no parking on street is available for red permit holders. They may park in designated spaces off street, for example, in shopping centres. Some centres actually mark their spaces specifically blue or red, such as the Myer Centre in Brisbane and the Sunshine Centre at Maroochydore.

Public education is needed about the problems that thoughtless misuse of marked spaces cause, even at night, when misuse levels up to 75 percent have been noted.

Permits are issued to those in need, not to cars, unless the holder is present.

Yet again, stereotyping rears its ugly head!

At a recent breakfast for medical managers, a doctor from Melbourne who ran aged care at a major hospital with links to a well-known Victorian university gave a presentation on the topic.

He stressed the need for a co-ordinated care and convenience of providing a ‘one-stop shop’ to use clinical time and meet patient needs to the best advantage.

As the consumer representative on the Brisbane North Division of General Practice 2002-2005, successful research, ‘Team Care II’ for those 50 and over with complex chronic diseases, and later one of the participants, I was impressed – UNTIL:
The typical user of the Melbourne program was characterised as (I started ticking off as the doctor spoke):

      Age: 72 a
      Sex: Female a
      Medical status: Complex and chronic diseases a
      Social status: Lives alone a

Conclusion: Therefore has no social network - HEY WAIT JUST A MINUTE … !

The doctor went on to detail what was put in place for these aged patients, for example:

  • A monthly newsletter
  • A monthly luncheon provided by … etc., etc.

My assessment sheet handed in at the end of the function started:

“I am a 72-year-old female with manageable health conditions, who lives alone and has a great life with a full diary to keep me active and out there! HOW ABOUT YOU?”

Standing Committee of the House of Representatives on Health

Five Queensland members of Parliament were reported to and questioned Tony Morris QC and a range of speakers from the Australian Medical Association, rural doctors, consultant doctors, GP’s and managers of Mt Olivet and Redcliffe/Caboolture Health Service.

No representatives came from Queensland Health. It was encouraging to learn that many problems are now being addressed.

Queensland Health seminar on active transport and health

Dr Rod Tolley from the UK spoke of the resurgence of walking worldwide. A lecturer from Griffith University talked of town planning here to answer much of what Dr Tolley had recommended.

Housing developments on the grid plan lend themselves to walking to the shops, to school etc., whereas modern suburbs seem to favour lots of cul-de-sacs not linked to each other. This precludes the easy running to time of local buses and is impossible for emergency vehicle access.

We need walker-friendly suburbs!

The Disability Parking Permit Reference Group

I attended the consultation meeting for the rewrite of the regulations, which led to lots of wide discussion such as two colours of permits and eligibility, especially for the blind who wish to maintain some independence by travelling with a carer to the shops. They deserve a permit as it is a parking permit rather than a driving permit!

Substantial fines and regular official policing are being considered to address this problem.

One regional city shopping centre has leased its disability parking spaces to the local council for a peppercorn rent. This enables parking inspectors to fine offenders legally. Great idea!

How to recognise a stroke

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall – she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food – while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital – (at 6pm, Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

It only takes a minute to read this . . .

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within three hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke . . . totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognised, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within three hours, which is tough.

RECOGNISING A STROKE

Thank God for the sense to remember the "three" steps, STR . Read and learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognise the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognise a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.

T *Ask the person to TALK to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE coherently – for example, "It is sunny out today."

R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue . . . if the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke,

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 000 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

The Crime Against Seniors Project report is available here.



Page updated May 15, 2008 | Copyright OPSO © 2008