QUALITY CARE NOT CORPORATE GREED

The “Household Model”: A chilling look at corporate greed and care

Since November last year, aged care workers, residents, family members and concerned health experts have joined forces to wage war on Southern Cross Care’s plans to get rid of almost 200 aged care workers around the state.

SCC dropped the bombshell on workers and residents alike when they announced their so-called “household model” last year with no notice and no consultation beforehand.

Stop the cuts, or resign

Workers certainly knew nothing about the household model, and neither did residents or their family members – so it wasn’t long before Lisa Mott, the daughter of a Southern Cross Care resident, joined forces with HACSU to speak out and start a petition calling for the CEO, Chair and Board to stop the cuts – or resign.

“I started this petition because it really annoyed me, the way that they think that they can get away with it. They haven’t valued what staff members do and they think that it’s all the same classification and it’s not.

When Southern Cross Care came out and said that they had spoken to residents and families saying that we were okay with it, we hadn’t heard about any of it. For them to say that we’re happy with the proposed changes is a blatant lie.

Management need to stop thinking about money and start thinking about the residents and how they would feel if they were in that position. If they think that’s okay, then they really need to rethink being on the Board of Southern Cross Care.”

The truth about the household model

According to Southern Cross Care, the so-called “household model” is supposed to centre residents’ care and upskill staff across the facility. But it doesn’t take much digging to find that Southern Cross Care are all smoke and mirrors.

We know the model would actually mean 175 job cuts across SCC’s kitchens, leisure and lifestyle teams and enrolled nurses, with carers being expected to take on all of these responsibilities on top of the work they do already – and more often or not, they’re so understaffed already that it’s hard to keep up.

A nurse expert, Dr Deb Carnes, has spoken out and called the model a “Trojan horse” to removing nursing care from SCC’s facilities.

“Effectively what SCC are trying to do is get an enrolled nurse’s level of skill for the cost of a carer. It’s a degrading way to treat nurses,” said Dr Carnes. “An enrolled nurse who is told by SCC that they will be employed and paid as a ‘carer’ must still meet EN standards of practice whilst they are registered.”

“It’s going to have a real impact on the residents. They’re not implementing the actual staffing theories of a household model. Getting rid of enrolled nurses is not part of it.”

“A true household model is person centred. It is actually about residents having input into the way that their household is run: the residents determine what happens in their space. But the cultural change and consultation with residents and staff at SCC are non-existent.”

Solidarity across the community

Workplace laws have made it very difficult for Southern Cross Care workers to speak up themselves. Some have spoken up anonymously, but what’s really heartening is the how the entire community has gotten involved and taken a stand against SCC’s corporate greed.

Phil Goold, a resident at SCC Yaraandoo in Somerset, recently spoke to the media about the state of the facility he lives at and lent his support to workers. “The staff will have additional duties, but they can’t fulfil their duties now because of staff shortages. They’re all very apologetic, but they can’t provide proper care now or do what’s required because they don’t have time. It’s not good enough.”

Yvonne Murfet’s mother lived at SCC Fairway Rise until her passing last December. Yvonne has pled for SCC to back away from staff cuts in memory of her mother. “Throughout her 4-day palliative care journey my mum was cared for by exceptional care and nursing staff. These staff were amazing, dedicated, caring and professional. Many of these exceptional staff were not sure of their next paycheck, their next roster, or even their continued employment given SCC’s recent ‘reform’ announcements. Mum was saying to me that ‘staff seem so sad, I don’t understand.’ Southern Cross Care know better. SCC, please listen to your staff now.”

Turning the tide

Because of community pressure, Southern Cross have been forced to consult properly with their workers and with residents. To date, they have put off implementing the household model twice because they know the community won’t take it lying down. If we keep speaking out and keep pressuring them to do the right thing, we have a real shot at stopping it for good and saving these jobs.

If you want to help, let us know. Together we’ve got the power to make the difference.

Amalgamations of providers have become increasingly common in the private care sector over the last few years, with big providers engulfing smaller organisations in Tasmania.

Anglicare

Anglicare Tasmania are the latest to put forward the shock announcement that they will be merging their workforce with a larger organisation. Withdrawing from most of their NDIS supported disability services by March 31 this year, mainland provider genU has been confirmed to take over their portfolio.

Their reduced involvement in disability support co-ordination and independent living services is set to affect approximately 220 workers and over 400 clients state-wide.

genU claims that disability workers at Anglicare will have further employment opportunities if they choose to stay on. They’ve also said they’ll honour previous conditions like annual leave, personal leave, and long service leave.

Ultimately, it’s important in any merger decision that workers are listened to and that they have transparency from their employers about what positions will exist and what working conditions will look like with any structural changes.

These latest mergers are a trend that we’re worried about when it comes to the monopolisation of the Tasmanian market, especially because we support putting participant’s care and choice above corporate profits.

We know how stressful these situations can be for workers, as well as their clients, and that’s why we’re ready to fight for you.