Aged care peak bodies ACSA and LASA have confirmed that they will merge and hope to provide a unified voice for the aged care sector. The two major peaks, as part of the Australian Aged Care Collaboration (AACC), recently announced ...
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2021 ACSA Aged Care Awards winners announced
Peak body Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA) has announced the winners of its 2021 ACSA Aged Care Awards. The yearly awards recognise outstanding achievements and contributions made by organisations, teams and individuals in the aged care industry over the ...
More »St. Basil’s inquest: senior Victorian health official Jackie Kearney describes moment she ‘broke down’
A Victorian Department of Health official has described how she broke down in tears in the midst of a horrifying Covid outbreak that proved fatal for Melbourne aged care facility St Basil’s. The virus claimed the lives of 45 residents at the Fawkner ...
More »First Australian hospital nurse dies from COVID-19
An Australian nurse described as “a real angel” has died from COVID-19. Gillian “Jill” Dempsey died at Box Hill Hospital’s intensive care unit on Sunday afternoon. She is believed to be the first hospital based nurse to die from the virus ...
More »Son and mother with dementia dead after ‘bad magic’ boat disappearance
A mother and son who went out to sea in a bid to banish “bad magic” from their lives were never seen again. Melbourne man Adrian Meneveau and his 83-year-old mother Felicity Loveday disappeared after setting off in their small ...
More »Forget ageing well, it’s what we do that counts
We don’t get up in the morning to age well, we get up to do something. Something we like doing, that lets us give back, shapes the day, broadens our circle, lifts our spirits and keeps us healthy. Sounds like ...
More »St. Basil’s inquest: Chief nurse grilled, surge workers quit over ‘utter exhaustion’
The surge nursing workforce brought into St. Basil’s struggled to identify residents and quit due to fear of losing their professional registration, the Victorian coroner’s court has heard. Nurse Angela Cox volunteered to lead the agency staff sent to St. ...
More »Shining a spotlight on women leaders in aged care: Beth Davidson-Park
Women make up the absolute majority of the healthcare workforce in Australia. It is not even close. At last check, of the 366,000-odd aged care workers, nearly nine in 10 workers in aged care were female (87 per cent of ...
More »Demand for grief counselling surged during the pandemic and bereavement services expect the impacts are not yet over
When Angie Wraight’s husband of 38 years died in her arms during the pandemic last year, she felt lost. A “wonderful” palliative care team had helped keep her husband Brian comfortable through his cancer battle, but when the rush of nurses and ...
More »St Basil’s inquest: infection breaches, rushed handover after workers furloughed
Infection breaches and poor communication prevailed after St Basil’s aged care staff were furloughed following a positive Covid case during Melbourne’s second wave. The facility suffered the worst outbreak that swept through Victoria’s nursing homes last year, with 50 residents dying in July ...
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