Hello. After many months of silence here, I’ve decided my blog has been inactive for too long, and although there is no way I could go back to writing a daily blog, it is time to publish occasionally. The one I published yesterday was a draft I found from a some time ago, reviewed to consider if it was still relevant to me today, and then updated for publication.

In the business of life, I’ve forgotten to express the more personal side to living with dementia, which has always supported my ability to live with it positively. For me, blogging is a form of journalling, and of narrative therapy.

The next few posts will probably be revisions of old drafts, or reposts of important articles written by me or others. Todays is the latter, from an from Aged Care Justice newsletter received on 10 April 2025.

Feeling Unsafe in Aged Care: Results of a Government Survey on Safety in Residential Aged Care Facilities 

“Aged care residents across Australia say they don’t feel safe in their aged care home, according to the latest Government data. 

In 69 aged care homes in NSW, residents said they “never feel safe”, and residents in almost one in 10 Tasmanian aged care homes feel unsafe, the new survey reveals.

Aged Care Justice CEO, Anna Willis, spoke to the Daily Telegraph about the survey and the increase in complaints received by Aged Care Justice this year, with 45 received already compared to a total of 110 last year. The Daily Telegraph article was published on 6 April 2025, titled “Never Feel Safe in Care” by Julie Cross. 

“We have had serious complaints from all over Australia,” said Willis. The types of complaints reported to ACJ have included neglected infections, untended wounds, physical harm by another resident, use of psychotropic drugs without monitoring. 

The article included aged care complainants speaking about their loved ones’ experiences in their residential aged care facilities: 

‘One said she was shocked to find her mother, who is in her 90s, had been prescribed strong antipsychotic drugs by a visiting GP, which she did not need, and put in a memory loss unit where people were screaming and shouting all day, and walking in and out of her room.

“While on those drugs she could hardly put one leg in front of the other and she was having falls in the nursing home,” the daughter, who did not want to be identified, said. She is no longer on those drugs and has been moved.

On another occasion the daughter arrived to find her mother’s feet were badly swollen, but no one had noticed.

“I raced up to the nurse and I said, ‘My God, look at my mother’s feet, look at this, they’re so swollen, the skin has split’. It was terrible.”

Another relative said staff failed to ensure her mother was able to get on a bus safely, and she fell, leaving her with cuts and bruises.’

“Providers need the resources, staff, and expertise to deliver quality care and ensure that aged care residents feel safe in their environment. Anticipating risk is an important part of care delivery and injury prevention. Family members and friends who contact ACJ are often concerned about their loved one’s safety.” says Willis. 

The new Aged Care Act is due to come into force in July, and features expanded regulatory enforcement powers including sanctions and civil penalties for non-compliant providers. 

To view the results of the survey, click here Findings of the Residents Survey.

Human Rights Belong to Everyone…

Published with permission on http://www.kateswaffer.com