Media release – Health and Community Services Union, 12 January 2023
“Degrading”: Nurse expert rubbishes Southern Cross Care’s deceptive nurse cuts
Dr Deb Carnes has today rubbished Southern Cross Care’s claims that their so-called “household model” and its associated 175 job cuts across Tasmania will improve conditions for residents, adding to the firestorm of community backlash against the aged care provider’s CEO and Board in recent weeks.
Dr Carnes, a Registered Nurse with expertise in safety culture in health and aged care settings, has described SCC’s move as a “Trojan horse” to removing nursing care from facility staffing.
“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.”
“On the basis of what they’ve said publicly about their implementation, this is not underpinned by any research about what the household model actually is.”
Dr Carnes also questioned the timing of SCC’s sudden intent to implement a care model that has been around for two decades or more.
“It’s all about cutting costs,” said HACSU Assistant State Secretary Lucas Digney. “It’s an obvious ploy from SCC’s CEO and Board to save a dollar – but they’re playing with residents’ lives. It’s sheer corporate greed, and it’s disingenuous.”
