Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck framing COVID outbreaks in aged care as a fait accompli: "No country has been able to avoid outbreaks in aged care where there has been community transmission"

Wow, what a fatalistic attitude. #auspol #agedcarerc

Janet Anderson: "Each death is not a number in the daily tally, but a person who lived and loved, and was loved. I offer my sincere condolences to everyone affected."

This is the regulator who allowed providers to "self-assess" their readiness for outbreaks #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck asked whether it is a federal responsibility to keep people in aged care safe from COVID-19.

Colbeck dodges the question: "it's our responsibility to provide information to the aged care sector."

#auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck doesn't want to commit to taking federal responsibility for the safety of residents in aged care, and mentions the role of states.

He will not give a straight answer to whether it's the government's duty to keep people in aged care safe from COVID-19 #auspol #agedcarerc

"We are the principal funders and regulators of aged care in Australia." Colbeck repeats this three times, but will not say the government is responsible. Refuses to use the word "responsible"

Extraordinary. #auspol #agedcarerc

There's a long silence as the Aged Care Minister fumbles to find the number of aged care fatalities due to COVID.

An aide has to help him.

258 care recipients dead.
254 residential care recipients
4 home care recipients.

#auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck also cannot answer how many residents are presently infected with COVID-19.

He's asked: "is this not front of mind for you, the details, the numbers?... I'm struggling to believe you are not aware of these details."

Colbeck finally finds it. 1811 #auspol #agedcarerc

Q. Does the government accept responsibility for avoidable deaths of residents?

Colbeck: "All of us have to take responsibility."

Q. "What do you mean by all of us?"

Colbeck: "not just the govt... but those in the community who've spread the virus." WOW.

#auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck asked when he became concerned about infections in aged care.

In June, he says.

He's asked what specific measures he put into place when he became concerned.

"We continued to grow our workforce," he says.

#auspol #agedcarerc

Q. Which specific steps were taken in June?

"We continued to build our capacity as the demand grew in Victoria, continuously in the pandemic," Colbeck says.

He cannot name a single specific measure or steps that were taken by the government in June #auspol #agedcarerc

Q. Community transmission is a risk, a known risk to aged care residents. What was your response to that increased risk?

Colbeck: We continued to provide advice about infection control.

Yet the government's own infection control training remained VOLUNTARY #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck: "As there's been more virus in the community, the risk of ingress into aged care facilities has grown... People are asymptomatic, they don't know they have it."

He's setting out all the reasons that the govt should have done much more much sooner #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck: "We haven't got it right. I apologise for that... We encountered circumstances that none of us could have anticipated."

Rubbish. Look at nursing home deaths in France, the UK, the US, Spain, Italy. We had so much warning of what was coming #auspol #agedcarerc

Michael Lye acknowledges that the Department of Health picks and chooses what it shares with providers about outbreaks across the sector.

There is no comprehensive disclosure to providers about outbreaks. It chooses to disclose when it ascertains a risk.

#auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck and Lye dancing around the question of how many aged care residents have been refused hospital transfers.

Lye: We've had "some occasions" where that issue has occurred. Describes them as "isolated cases."

#auspol #agedcarerc

Lye defending case by case basis for hospital transfers.

He mentions advanced care directives and the importance of upholding residents' wishes to 'remain in place.'

Most of these plans were made pre-COVID, esp if the resident now has cognitive impairment #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck asked whether he has briefed the Cabinet about the Royal Commission's Interim Report.

He cannot answer. This is extraordinary.

Did he brief the Cabinet about the RC's report or not? #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck cannot even answer whether he has briefed the Cabinet about the Victorian outbreak of COVID.

He was scheduled to do so on Aug 5, but wasn't able to attend.

He is asked whether he has briefed the Cabinet at all about VIC since July.

The answer is no #auspol #agedcarerc

Now we're on to the assertion - repeated by Morrison, Colbeck, Hunt, and Murphy - that aged care outbreaks were "unforeseeable."

This should be good.

#auspol #agedcarerc

Q. If you had plans in place for the worst case scenarios, why were you surprised by what happened at St Basil's?

Colbeck: We did not anticipate that the entire management, office structure, catering staff, cleaning would be taken out by an outbreak. WOW #auspol #agedcarerc

Q. You told people on the April 12 you had plans in place for a worst case scenario.

Colbeck: Our planning was based around COVID only infecting care workers. We didn't plan for management, cleaners, etc becoming infected.

So, NOT worst case planning then.

#auspol #agedcarerc

Q. Is there a workforce surge strategy?

Colbeck: "There isn't a document."

Absolutely astonishing. The government had no formal strategy in place in spite of knowing that workforce would be decimated during outbreaks. UNBELIEVABLE. #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck now pointing to the CDNA document as a "plan."

Says CDNA document considers "issues like workforce."

Risible claim. I've read CDNA document. It doesn't. It's a set of guidelines for individual providers. #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck asked how on earth the Commonwealth can claim that the workforce issues are "unforseen," given widely known, longstanding workforce issues in aged care.

Colbeck: I don't agree with the "correlation" that more staff would mean fewer COVID outbreaks. #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck describes the government's online PPE training as "supplementary" and suggests individual providers are responsible for the primary PPE training of their staff.

So the government won't even take responsibility for ensuring uniform PPE preparedness. Just wow. #auspol

Anderson asked whether the regulator will be doing national spot checks for COVID preparedness in the 2700 aged care facilities?

Anderson: "I don't have enough staff" at the regulator to do spot checks across the country.

Good lord #auspol #agedcarerc

Brendan Murphy: "I don't think it's possible anywhere in the world to make an aged care facility protected from COVID."

Again, fatalism from the government officials entrusted with protecting facilities and aged care residents from COVID. #agedcarerc #auspol

Brendan Murphy cites the government's "investment" in PPE training as evidence of the government's determination to limit infections in aged care.

But the training was voluntary, and online, and fewer than half of the workforce did it. Some determination. #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck pressed on why the govt didn't foresee the fact that administrative staff, caterers, cleaners etc in aged care might also be affected by COVID 19 in an outbreak.

He repeats that the government ONLY thought carers would be affected. Mind-boggling. #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck: "We acted very early in the piece to put in surge workforce provisions."

But he just testified only 20 minutes ago that there was no surge workforce strategy OR document. #auspol #agedcarerc

Colbeck currently citing the govt's investment in surge workforce - but it was reported this week that less than HALF of those funds were spent. #auspol #agedcarerc https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/coronavirus-more-than-half-of-funds-for-aged-surge-workers-unspent/news-story/6f3fe09648f87a974d4f8dcf0d7529a1

Colbeck claims it was unforeseeable that administrators, caterers, cleaners etc might be affected by COVID-19.

This is laughable. There were international reports for months about nursing homes losing their entire workforce. Does the Minister READ the news? #auspol #agedcarerc

What is happening in this Senate Select Committee is jaw-dropping.

Aged Care Minister Colbeck is claiming repeatedly that the government wasn't prepared for the depletion of the entire aged care workforce because only anticipated care workers being affected. #auspol #agedcarerc

In no outbreak had the entire facility including managers been affected by COVID, Aged Care Minister Colbeck says.

In fact, there were hundreds and hundreds of international examples - in the US, in France, in Italy, in Spain - where that was the case. #auspol #agedcarerc

Murphy, Colbeck, and Lye are asked about the CDNA guidelines being described in media by the Prime Minister as a plan.

They insist that is was part of a plan. Fact check: it wasn't. Thread below #auspol #agedcarerc https://twitter.com/the_shb/status/1293475702734352384?s=20

Fascinating to hear Brendan Murphy say that he "thinks" the CDNA guidelines have been described "in the media" as a plan.

He described the guidelines as a plan himself last week in his extraordinary appearance at the #agedcarerc. He himself has touted it as a plan #auspol

Colbeck won't answer whether there is a document that can be shared with all the states about lessons learned from Dorothy Henderson, Newmarch, and other outbreaks.

Colbeck suggests that is be the responsibility of the national Cabinet. Isn't that HIS job as minister? #auspol

Janet Anderson asked about chemical restraint.

We have come upon a number of instances where restraint is used, where individuals who are COVID positive OR negative and wander due to dementia and are at risk or put others to risk, so restraint is used. #auspol #agedcarerc

We're now hearing it took Commissioner Janet Anderson, head of the aged care regulator, three days after learning of the breakdown in communication re: St Basil's before briefing the Aged Care Minister. #auspol #agedcarerc

Anderson asked what she has changed about the regulator's processes re: outbreaks.

Anderson: "When we become aware of an outbreak, we now double check our records, and check with the Department of Health and the DHHS... we will now be more assiduous." #auspol #agedcarerc

Final question asked of Colbeck is a simple one: was the situation in Victoria - deaths, anguish of families, failures of basic care - acceptable on any level?

He waffles. "We have acknowledged in some circumstances we haven't got it all right."

No kidding. #auspol #agedcarerc