The Byron Shire Echo – Issue 34.22 – November 6, 2019 by Echo Publications

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Chocolate Shake it up for kids with cancer in Bangalow Bangalow Lion’s Club will be Lounge Eve Jeffery helping out with drinks. VEGA BURGER N F FRIDAYS UNK A SATURD ND AYS 4-9PM

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8am to 5.30pm Monday to Thursday 8am to 8.30pm Friday and Saturday 8am to 2pm Sunday 1/53 Stuart Street, Mullumbimby y 0406 422 465

It’s hard to be ill but it’s heartbreaking when you have a child who is ill, and parents and families need help. A local dad knows just how that feels, and he is so grateful to some amazing charities who supported his family while his son Arlo was ill, he is now fundraising so he can continue to help other families that might have to go through difficult circumstances. Arlo’s dad Rowan says a little under two years ago his 18 month old son was diagnosed with leukemia. ‘Although we are not through our journey, our son is in remission, and treatment is going well. What we have been through no one should have to go through. ‘Arlo missed out on being a toddler,’ says Rowan. ‘He’s

Arlo with his dad Rowan. Photo Tree Fearie had more needles, blood tests and chemicals pumped into his tiny body than most will have in a lifetime. But we are one of the lucky families.’ Rowan is hosting a children’s charity luncheon in Bangalow, which he has called Shake It For The Kids. ‘I want people to shake their hearts, their minds and their wallets. One hundred per cent of all proceeds from

the event will be divided equally between Our Kids in Lismore and the Kids With Cancer Foundation. ‘We will be having massive prize auctions, raffles, music by Cass Eleven and celebrity guests including former Wallaby Jeremy Paul. Local caterers Dine Hinterland will be cooking an amazing two course family style feast and the infamous

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The Byron Shire Echo Volume 34 #22 • November 6, 2019

▶ Continued from page 1 corroborated by three other current and former staff interviewed by The Echo. ‘If someone called in sick and they couldn’t cover the shift we were f****d,’ said another former staff member, who asked to remain anonymous. ‘You’d have RNs [registered nurses] run off their feet doing meds, helping with feeds, and toileting. ‘You’d have afternoon shifts with four or five people. Each resident would get eight mins [of care] in an eight-hour shift.’ ‘One of my colleagues used to call it an express [incontinence] pad change shift. No love, no talking. Get into bed – slap, bang, done.’ ‘It got to the point where Care Staff [casual agency staff] wouldn’t come and work for us.’ But Ms Buckley rejected

all of the claims. She said that the company’s Village Care manager had not received any complaints about continence or dental care, but that management would follow up with families and staff to confirm this. She said that the average response time for residents wanting to go to the toilet was three minutes, and there were specific plans in place for residents who were incontinent. She also said that staff at Feros constantly monitored and treated bed sores. Ms Buckley said falls were a regular occurrence in aged care facilities across the country due to the frailty of residents. Feros regularly monitored its residents, she said, but ‘we do not physically restrain them, giving them the dignity to continue to walk for the rest of their lives if they choose’. However, staff members

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‘The job of a newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.’ – Finley Peter Dunne 1867–1936 The Echo acknowledges the people of the Bundjalung nation as the traditional custodians of this land and extends respect to elders past, present and future. Mullumbimby office: Village Way, Stuart St

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said understaffing had contributed to three significant fall incidents in the past two weeks. This included a female resident falling and breaking her leg – an injury which preceded her death in hospital soon after – a female resident escaping from the centre and suffering a head wound in the carpark, and a female resident falling from her toilet chair and breaking her arm. ‘It’s basically about having enough eyes,’ said a current employee who asked to remain anonymous. ‘In all of the time I‘ve been at Feros, they’ve asked us to do more [work] with nowhere near enough staff to do it. When that happens, things get missed. If someone’s going to be resistive then we don’t have time to try. We have to give up and move on to the next person who we can do something for.’ In relation to the three falls, Ms Buckley said that staff had responded within one minute and 46 seconds to the woman who broke her leg, and then did everything possible to help before she was taken to hospital. The woman who fell in the carpark had been let out by a member of the public, and the third woman had not fallen from the toilet but fell in her bedroom and later said she had been reaching for something. However, staff reportedly wrote a letter to management earlier this year informing them that residents at

‘So many local businesses have been incredibly generous with donations of meat, drinks, prizes, funds, goods and services. The community has really banded together. ‘Going through this has shown me how amazing our local community is. This event is my way of giving back so these charities can continue to help families like mine. I hope to see you there and enjoy a beer with you.’ The Shake It For The Kids fundraising long lunch is on 22 November at the A&I Hall, Bangalow from 12.30pm. More info can be found on Instagram at @ shakeitforthekids. You can buy tickets directly through the link at Eventbrite www.eventbrite.com. au/e/shake-it-for-the-kidstickets-72335538543. the Bangalow home received an average of just 1.7 hours of direct care per day. That’s well below the national average of 2.6 hours and less than half of the 4.6 hours per day that the Royal Commission into Aged Care has recommended. This was apparently not the first time such a complaint was made to management. But Ms Buckley said this was incorrect. ‘The NSW industry benchmark is 2.3 direct hours of care per resident per day and Feros Care has a higher rate of care at 2.4 hours,’ she said. ‘The staff rostering policy requires for all shifts to be filled at all times, and the duty registered nurse calls in support staff to fill in gaps when they arise. Should a staff member be ill or cannot come in for whatever reason, Feros Village engages Care Agency staff to supplement the team.’ But Sue Craig, whose mother Ronnie lived at the home until two-and-half years ago said she too had written to Feros Care management about the understaffing issues she had observed. ‘They said thank you for your letter, and that was the beginning and the end of it,’ Ms Craig said. ‘Every day I went, mum would say “they’re so short staffed”. ‘The staff are wonderful, with no exceptions. They’re dedicated, good people, but their hands were tied.’ ‘They work so hard for so little money, but the management doesn’t seem to take notice of what the problems are.’

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