A report into thousands of incidents of abuse and neglect of aged care residents that was expected to be completed by the end of last year has not been released, as bureaucrats discuss the need for a “strategic narrative”.
In the wake of the damning Royal Commission into Aged Care report, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission released in May 2021 the “first in a series of reports … drawing on information from serious incident notifications”.
The first Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) insight report was eight pages long and covered six weeks. In that time there were 192 unexpected deaths reported, 448 cases of neglect, and 778 cases of “unreasonable use of force”.
Overall there were 1,876 priority 1 notifications.
But since then, there has not been a follow-up report, despite one being expected by the end of last year. In a statement, the commission said that report was “discretionary” and that the commission was “exploring options” on how to present information.
“Work on this report is continuing alongside the regular reporting of SIRS data,” it said.
In a different report that is less easily accessible and covers the last quarter of 2021, there were 5,102 priority 1 incidents reported – more than 2.7 times as many as in the six-week period.
Since then, emails obtained from the commission show months of delays preparing the second report, while bureaucrats discuss the formatting and messaging.
The report is still unpublished despite the emails several times showing it was close to completion. Sarah Russell, an aged care advocate and independent running against health minister Greg Hunt in Flinders, asked the commission about the report after being told in November last year it would be published within weeks.
Russell said families wanted the data, and greater transparency in the sector.
“We know if they report the data, providers improve their standards of care,” she said.
“These numbers are older people being assaulted, abused, raped and neglected.”
The commission statement said it took its responsibility for accountability and transparency “very seriously” and that the SIRS data was now included in sector performance reports and the commission’s annual report.
The latest statistics in the sector performance report show that from 1 October 2021 to 31 December 2021, 2,443 residents suffered an “unreasonable use of force”. There were 199 “unexpected” deaths.
More than 1,000 cases of neglect were reported and 515 cases of unlawful sexual conduct or inappropriate sexual contact. Other incidents included psychological or emotional abuse, stealing, and unexplained absences.
A freedom of information request obtained by the ABC shows at least seven drafts of a second report in the more accessible format were prepared. The emails between senior commission staff and commissioner Janet Anderson started towards the end of June when Anderson asked for “urgent action” and continue to mid-December.
Staff discussed the “strategic narrative” and “messaging” needed, and in July discussed a final releasable version to be ready “shortly”. After a lull, the emails resume in November. At one point Anderson says it “really has been a laborious writing task”. The most recent email released included a tweet from Russell saying the report is overdue.
Russell said it was “so disappointing” to see bureaucrats “trying to make a strategic narrative out of people’s lives”. “They are massaging the data,” she said.
“Can we have transparent reporting of data? These are older people who deserve the answers.”
