A timely call !

In November last year we were shocked by graphic pictures on television showing the damage when fire swept through a Quakers Hill nursing home.   Several patients were killed in their beds and others died days later from smoke inhalation.  The final death count was eleven deaths and it seems that this fire was a deliberate act of arson.

The New South Wales parliament has bitten the bullet and passed legislation requiring automatic fire sprinkler systems to be installed in all nursing homes - with an eighteen month deadline.   There are special provisions to give those institutions facing finance problems a three year period of grace, but it is evident that without the Federal government providing financial assistance, some nursing homes will simply close their doors.

We are already desperately short of nursing home beds.  We have an ageing population and the incidence of Alzheimer's disease is steadily rising, requiring more and more high care beds to treat those afflicted.  This requirement to install fire sprinkler systems is timely.    The people less able to quickly respond to a fire alarm or any other type of emergency are those in either a hospital or nursing home bed.  Hospital sprinkler systems have long been mandatory. Their extension to nursing homes is overdue.

There is no doubt that this legislation will hit the nursing home industry financially.   Nursing home stock is a mix of government owned facilities, big not-for-profit groups with multiple campuses, and large numbers of private facilities delivering a financial return to their owners.   It is this latter group that will be hardest hit finding the finance to install sprinklers and costs are  predicted to run to about $ 170 million.

What we are likely to see is a re-think of the terms which apply to smaller nursing homes.  If installing sprinkler systems is financially out of the question, the only option would be to cease providing nursing home services and restructure the facility as a pre-nursing home group living facility.   Something of a "missing link " for those having difficulty in maintaining a decent living standard in their own homes, and yet not needing the facilities provided by a nursing home.   The danger is that the margins will become blurred, and as these residents age and need nursing home care, the  facilities will not be available and the " self care " facility will simply morph into a de-facto nursing home - without sprinklers.

It seems that the only way to maintain standards and  not lose nursing home beds will require some sort of financial arrangement between the industry and both the Federal and state governments.    This comes at a time when all tiers of government are strapped for money, but providing fire safety is not negotiable and if the private sector of nursing home availability withers away, the cost of restoration will eventually rest on government shoulders.   A little help now may defer a much bigger bill later.

This is timely legislation.   The Quakers Hill fire illustrated how vulnerable are those residing in nursing homes and this was just one of several fatal fires that have occurred - with tragic results.   Now it is just a matter of sorting out how to pay for what is an absolute necessity !