New data shows one in five aged care residents is being given antipsychotic medication — mind-altering drugs that the aged care royal commission linked to chemical restraint.
The mandatory data, collected for the Department of Health from more than 2,400 aged care homes, reveals a heavy reliance on the use of the drugs in the sector.
Elderly residents are more likely to be given the drugs if they live in rural areas, and half do not have a diagnosis of psychosis.
"I have to say it was higher than I was expecting," said Juanita Breen, a pharmacy researcher with the University of Tasmania, who appeared as an expert witness at the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
The commission found antipsychotic use in aged care homes was "widespread" and "inappropriate" and that "many of these medications were being used as chemical restraint".
Dr Breen said the data suggested that much of the use was still inappropriate because it revealed half of the residents given antipsychotics had no psychosis diagnosis.
"It means that these medications are used for other reasons," she said.
Use of antipsychotic drugs linked to staff shortages
Former aged care nurse Amanda Gorton left the industry in 2020, and said staff shortages regularly left her feeling overwhelmed.
The home she worked at failed an audit from the aged care watchdog, the Quality and Safety Commission, in 2020 over its use of antipsychotic drugs.
Ms Gorton said she witnessed workers using antipsychotics as a form of restraint because they did not have the capacity to care for residents.
Human Rights Watch has analysed hundreds of aged care audits from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and said they revealed inappropriate use of antipsychotic drugs was taking place across the country.
"We found homes where more than 75 per cent of residents were given these drugs and there was not adequate documentation of why they needed them or relevant diagnosis," researcher Sophie McNeill said.
"We found homes where residents were so drugged up that they experienced a significant increase in falls, which resulted in injuries.
"We also found homes where staff use these drugs in response to residents' requests for assistance or because they were in pain. So generally, there's still a very widespread misuse of these drugs."
Ms McNeill said there was a clear link between workforce issues and chemical restraint.
"There's not enough staff to look after people. So instead, vulnerable, older Australians are given these drugs when they don't need them," she said.
Senate passes aged care bill requiring nurses in each home
The Senate passed a key aged care bill on its last sitting day, intended to address a number of recommendations from the royal commission.
The bill included an amendment from Independent Senator Rex Patrick, to ensure every aged care home has a registered nurse rostered on 24 hours a day.
"Putting people on drugs, restraining people, is the easy option for an aged care facility that doesn't have the necessary staff to deal with these sorts of matters," Senator Patrick said.
The vote went through the Senate without a formal division and the bill passed, but on Thursday the Coalition and Labor agreed to defer the vote in the lower house.
"This means the bill won't be dealt with by the 46th Parliament, what a disgrace," Senator Rex Patrick said.
"The government didn't want the optics of voting against nurses 24/7 in aged care, so they simply let it go through on the voices [in the Senate] knowing that, tactically, they can avoid dealing with it in the house today."
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission said it was working with rural aged care providers, local pharmacists, and GPs to reduce antipsychotic medication use.
It said sites identified in the Human Rights Watch report had been subject to comprehensive unannounced site audits, and that enforcement action had been taken against non-compliance.
