Assault cases among elderly Aussies in age care services up 10% in 2014-2015

Elderly abuse is on the rise in aged care services in Australia. A new report, released over the weekend, says the number of reported assaults rose by more than 10 percent.

Incidents of alleged or suspected unreasonable use of force reached 2,199, while there were 379 complaints of unlawful sexual contact, plus 47 more cases of both categories. The total reach 2,625 for 2014-2015.

Other complaints include 3,725 cases of standard of care in aged care facilities subsidised by the government and 1,127 incidents of missing people or unexplained absences. These incidents of suspected or alleged abuses comprise 1.1 percent of the 231,555 Aussies who stay in permanent residential aged care facilities. Another 800,000 Australians have access to home care services.

Australian law mandates that suspicion or complaints of assaults by aged care providers must be reported to the police and the Department of Health. The sector is expected to be subject to tighter scrutiny in 2016 with the launch in January of the Aged Care Quality Indicator Programme that reports the number of pressure injuries, use of physical restraint and cases of unplanned weight loss at services that volunteer participation.

However, relatives of residents of the aged care facilities, likewise complained of being intimidated and bullied by employees of the facilities when they bring out the abuses, reports ABC. The intimidation takes the form of being banned from taking photos at the facilities, being yelled at and even physical manhandling.

ABC cites the case of an 86-year-old woman who lives in an aged care facility in Sydney. The daughter of the woman showed images, taken using a mobile phone, of the swollen and red leg of the resident, apparently bleeding under the skin. The daughter also complains of the poor quality of food served.

Rae Lamb was also appointed as the new Aged Care Complaints commissioner of the new independent watchdog. In the 17 days that the agency started to operate, it has received more than 116 complaints.