Ground breaking for Kew public nursing home - 23 July 2018In 2014 we fought the Liberal Government's sell off of public nursing homes. Today Victorian Ageing Minister Martin Foley turned the first sod for the development of a new 90-bed public nursing home which will include 30 geriatric-mental health beds. The Andrews Government has also committed to specialist training for 800 nurses to care for older people with complex needs. See bit.ly/2LsZPx0 (transcript below)
Martin Foley MP Daniel Andrews
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TRANSCRIPT
[DESCRIPTION: ANMF Vic Branch Secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick standing on steps of Parliament House Victoria in 2014, surrounded by protestors holding banners protesting closure of public nursing homes.]
Since December 2011 we have seen month by month announcements being made about closing our public aged care facilities.
And also of course, we have at least 138 beds as of today, that are beds that belong to residents and patients who require specialist mental health care.
And this is the shame of the Napthine Government
[TITLE 1 of 4: In 2014 the ANMF Vic Branch and the community fought the Liberal government's public nursing home sell off.]
[TITLE 2 of 4: In 2018 the Andrews Government is building a 90-bed public nursing home, including 30 geriatric mental health beds.]
[TITLE 3 of 4: Speciaity training will be provided for 800 nurses to care of older people with complex needs.]
[TITLE 4 of 4: The government will also introduce a Bill to amend the Safe Patient Care Act to improve nurse to patient ratios.]
[DESCRIPTION: ANMF Vic Branch Secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick standing outside a building site. July 2018.]
Lisa: I think today is a very important day for Victoria, particularly for strenghting public aged care in this state.
We saw the previous government closing and selling off public aged care beds.
And Premier Andrews promised to stop that and build new facilities.
So today he is delivering on that promise and its very, very important. Particularly because this public aged care facility is also going to be home for those who have significant mental health issues and current there is a deficit in metropolitan Melbourne for that.
[DESCRIPTION: Minister for Ageing and Mental Health, Martin Foley standing outside same building site, wearing a suit and safety gear - a fluro vest and hard hat. A woman is standing behind him with same safety gear over her clothes.]
Martin: Our government was elected on a commitment to end the sell off of Melbourne public sector aged care beds which was underway.
And we've done that and that's been a significant achievement.
But at the same time what we've got to do is secure the future of public sector residential aged care because so many vulnerable Victorians, particularly in Melbourne, look to the public sector aged care system for our safety net.
As our population grows - particularly as the need vulnerable senior Victorians grow - for the safety net to catch those people who need rigourous, high quality public sector aged beds to be available to them.
We are announcing today that starting next month I think, we are partnering with the ANMf and la trobe University to deliver the training courses we need to grow our public sector aged care work force.
Lisa: And overwhelmingly, a lot of that education is going to be happening in regional Victoria but also here in metropolitan Melbourne.
And we think thats a really important initiative, and also looking at the care we deliver to those most vulnerable and who need nurses most.
Martin: To secure more public sector aged care facilities, not just to end privatisation, which we have, but to improve quality of the both the workforce and the built form of aged care
That's precisely what we're doing here and we'll do that elsewhere as well.
[TITLE: The Andrews government is keeping its aged care election promises and investing in the future.]
Posted by ANMF Vic Branch on Monday, July 23, 2018
Construction is underway on the new government-funded $55.6 million, 90-bed residential aged care facility at St George’s Health Service in Kew, expected to open in August 2019. The investment in public sector aged care continues the Andrews Government’s record since coming to office in 2014.
Turning a sod at the construction site, Minister for Housing, Disability and Ageing Martin Foley said: ‘Four years ago our government was elected on a commitment to end the sell-off of Melbourne’s public aged care sector beds and we’ve done that and that has been a considerable achievement.
‘At the same time, we have to secure the future of public aged care because so many Victorians, particularly in Melbourne, look to the public sector aged care system for that safety net.’
The construction of the new public sector facility, which will include 30 geriatric mental health beds, is the first significant government investment in aged care in more than a decade.
1.25 million Victorians aged over 60
Mr Foley said there were 1.25 million Victorians aged over 60 and half of these were aged 60-69, representing ‘a wave of demographic change coming through in the aged care system.’
ANMF (Vic Branch) Secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick applauded the Andrews Government for delivering on its promise to stop the Liberal Coalition’s sell-off of public aged care and investing in the housing, health and care of older, vulnerable Victorians.
Ms Fitzpatrick recalled ANMF members and community members gathering on the steps of Parliament House on 14 October 2014 to protest the Liberal Government’s sell-off of public nursing homes.
‘Daniel Andrews committed on that day to build a stronger Victorian public aged care sector, and today we are growing the workforce and building a new public nursing home,’ she said.
Mr Foley also announced the Andrews Labor Government would invest $1.1 million to provide specialist aged care training to about 1000 Victorian public registered and enrolled nurses.
The ANMF (Vic Branch) will facilitate the government-funded training, ‘Comprehensive health assessment of older people’, to nurses in Melbourne and regional Victoria from September 2018. La Trobe University will deliver the three-day program.
Ms Fitzpatrick said the training program will provide significant support to nurses working with older patients and nursing home residents and will improve their treatment and clinical care.
‘We’re thrilled the Andrews Government is investing in its Victorian nursing workforce to meet the increasing acuity in nursing home residents and older people, who commonly have multiple health issues.’
