As CEO of Baptistcare I am tired and frustrated at the lack of energy and goodwill generated by Governments past and present towards the seniors in our community and their current and future care needs. It is an arrogant assumption by the government that assumes nobody in our community cares enough to say anything or to make a fuss. It leaves providers like Baptistcare struggling to provide services that meet our own expectations let alone those of the residents, their family members and the community.
The government relies on this as part of their risk management - and as a not-for-profit provider I say 'enough'. We operate out of a strong sense of mission, we are committed to providing services to people in our community, we rely on the goodwill of our staff and the support of the community to persuade governments to sustain sufficient funding to do our work properly.
It is a scandal that our community is only able to focus on 'quality care' and not even have the resources to think about quality of life.
Why do people not want to think about needing aged care services? Because they do not want to think about what it means for that chapter of their lives. Well, it should mean that our services enable people to live life to the full to the very end, in good surroundings with access to the community without barriers, with care that is tailored to individual needs for the person who is aged and their families. It should not mean only quality care intentionally institutionalised, and based on a medical model to suit the government in managing their risk.
And where do our staff figure in this - they are nowhere on the government's radar. People delivering human services are the lowest paid in our communities and as a community we should not accept this proposition. Our people are as important as anything else currently being considered by governments when they contemplate investment in this country's future. Invest in our people please and invest in quality of life for some of our most important citizens.
Dr Lucy Morris
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