Aged Care Food Staff Re-class Amid Mass Malnourishment

Aged care food service staff are being re-classified as personal care workers in a bid to stretch resources as facilities in the sector leave residents rife with malnourishment. The insight comes after a study of more than 700 residents at 10 facilities in New South Wales (NSW), South Australia and Queensland revealed 32 percent were malnourished and six percent were severely malnourished. United Workers Union’s Aged Care Deputy Director, Catalina Gonzalez, said the conditions were compounded by aged care workers in food service being reclassified.  She said this was done in an underhanded effort by providers to boost the number of care time minutes counted in line with mandated care time allocated to residents....