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7 May 2020.
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety continues to encourage submissions from aged care providers, people who receive aged care services, and their families, who are affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Royal Commissioners, the Honourable Tony Pagone QC and Ms Lynelle Briggs AO, are very concerned by the reports of deaths due to COVID-19 in aged care facilities. They have already begun looking into the impact of the virus on aged care, consistent with their terms of reference as set out in the Letters Patent.
Since March, the Commissioners have been collecting information, including from submissions from the public, so that their final report may be informed by the lessons learnt from the pandemic - including the lessons from what has happened at Newmarch House in Sydney where 16 people have died - and other aged care facilities.
The Commissioners may need to inquire into particular events relating to COVID-19, in particular residential facilities. However, any such inquiry must in no way distract providers from giving residents of aged care facilities the care that they need in these difficult times.
More information is available on the
Royal Commission and the coronavirus (COVID-19) page.