Aus aged care residents left malnourished, dehydrated amid Covid outbreaks

Australian aged care residents were neglected during coronavirus outbreaks in 2020, a report has found.

The federal government recently published the findings of the independent review of the outbreaks in aged care facilities, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

Reviewers Lyn Gilbert and Alan Lilly found that during coronavirus outbreaks in aged care facilities in 2020 medical records of residents "were often missing, inaccessible or out of date" and some residents "could not be identified".

By the time hospital nurses were re-deployed to help with aged care outbreaks it "was often too late to prevent devastating consequences".


"Many became dangerously deconditioned, malnourished or dehydrated because of isolation, loneliness and neglect," the report said.

"Serious medical complications occurred because of medication errors or delays. Constant staff turnover often meant that meaningful, clinical handover, between shifts was difficult."

According to government data aged care residents accounted for 655 out of Australia's 909 Covid-19 deaths in 2020 and 54 out of 859 in 2021.


The review made 38 recommendations for improving staffing, clinical care, infection control, emergency response, communication and building design and leadership and governance.

Responding to the report, Health and Aged Care Minister Greg Hunt and Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services Richard Colbeck said the government accepted all its recommendations in a statement on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Australia reported more than 1,100 new locally-acquired Covid-19 cases and 12 deaths as the country continues to battle the third wave of infections.


The majority of new cases were in Victoria, the country's second-most populous state with Melbourne as the capital city, where 941 cases and eight deaths were reported.

So far about 88.7 per cent of Australians aged 16 and over had received one Covid-19 vaccine dose and 78.5 per cent were fully inoculated, according to the latest figures from Department of Health - IANS