Incident of nursing home abuse prompts calls for mandatory reporting
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ELEANOR HALL: The allegations of rape in a Victorian nursing home have prompted renewed calls today for the mandatory reporting of abuse in aged care facilities. The Lateline program last night detailed allegations of four instances of abuse by a worker in a Victorian nursing home, including claims that a second staff member witnessed one assault but failed to report it for two months. The male staff member was eventually suspended and charged by police, but the case has prompted calls for the introduction of mandatory reporting of abuse, as Alison Caldwell reports. ALISON CALDWELL: The Australian Medical Association has added its voice to the calls for mandatory reporting of abuse in aged care facilities. Dr Mukesh Haikerwal is the President of the AMA. MUKESH HAIKERWAL: We’ve seen some benefits from mandatory reporting in child abuse cases, and it’s really that sort of process that I suppose has given us a much better handle on what’s going on in the community and then allowing us to put together strategies to try and address that. Elder abuse is known about, but is seldom talked about, and I think it’s probably just as important a problem to deal with, especially as we are getting more people who are in residential care, or even living in the community at home. More : abc.net.au |