Aged care ENs to be replaced with cheaper, less skilled staff
The provider says EN care only contributes 10 per cent towards mandatory care minute targets
Queensland’s largest aged care provider BlueCare is slashing its nursing workforce to cut costs in a move a union warns will put elderly lives at risk.
BlueCare will axe up to 60 per cent of its enrolled nurses (ENs) this week, replacing them with lower-paid and less qualified personal care workers who will be tasked with detecting infections, administering medications and responding to emergencies.
In a statement provided to The Courier-Mail, BlueCare said it had made the “difficult decision to adjust our workforce structure” to align with federal government funding quotas that came into effect in October 2023, which require aged care providers to deliver a sector-wide average of 200 minutes of direct care per resident each day.
Families were assured official care levels would remain unchanged.
“Providers are not funded appropriately to retain enrolled nurses,” a BlueCare spokesperson said.
“Under the current model, the care enrolled nurses provide can only contribute 10 per cent toward mandatory care minute targets.
“We can no longer sustain this funding gap.”
It is understood the provider is assisting staff to find new roles in hospitals, community care or apply for positions as personal care workers.
However impacted nurses have been prohibited from discussing the role changes with fellow staff, residents and their families.
The Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union (QNMU) says the restructure strips away vital clinical oversight at 21 BlueCare facilities across the state.
It says personal care workers, who often enter the sector with little or no clinical experience, should not be expected to replace nurses in detecting infections, managing wounds, responding to sepsis or handling emergencies such as falls or cardiac events.
Under federal law, just one qualified registered nurse is required on site at a private aged care facility at all times.
QNMU secretary Sarah Beaman said the mass nurse cuts were dangerous.
“BlueCare are planning on sacking up to 84 of an estimated 130 Enrolled Nurses,” she said.
“We hold serious concerns for the ongoing wellbeing of BlueCare’s aged care residents.
“The QNMU is urging friends and family members to visit loved ones with BlueCare to check their wellbeing, seek an updated roster and demand answers from management as a matter of urgency.”
The union has referred BlueCare’s operator UnitingCare Queensland to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, the Inspector-General of Aged Care, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority and the Human Rights Commission.
“We are also seeking an urgent meeting with the Federal Minister for Aged Care and Seniors Sam Rae and the federal Aged Care Department on this matter,” Ms Beaman said.
Originally published as BlueCare replaces nurses with care workers in Qld facilities
Email: rebecca.cox@news.com.au
Providers started doing this 2 years ago. Blame the Labor government who tied mandatory minutes funding to total care minutes and RN care minutes. ENs became redundant for the most part.