Lindy Kerin reported this story on Thursday, April 3, 2014 12:42:00
ELEANOR HALL: A lobby group for pensioners and superannuants says 448 homes nursing homes across New South Wales don't have adequate fire safety systems.
The state government made automatic fire sprinkler systems mandatory in all aged care homes in response to the deadly fire at a Western Sydney facility more than two years ago.
The Combined Pensioners and Superannuant Association of New South Wales says more than half of the nursing homes that were required to act still don't have sprinkler systems, as Lindy Kerin reports.
LINDY KERIN: The Quakers Hill nursing home was destroyed by an arson attack in November 2011. It claimed the lives of 11 people and saw another eight seriously injured.
A nurse at the home, Roger Dean, deliberately started the blaze and is serving a life sentence for murder.
In response to the tragedy the New South Wales Government made it mandatory for nursing homes to install fire sprinklers.
Scott Williams is the CEO of Fire Protection Association Australia
SCOTT WILLIAMS: We certainly advocate that, you know, anywhere there's a vulnerable sector of the community, that there should be sprinkler systems in places. Certainly that is the most advantageous aspect of fire safety.
LINDY KERIN: About half of the 885 nursing homes across the state were already fitted with sprinkler systems when the laws came into effect.
Amelia Christie from the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association says the remaining nursing homes aren't moving fast enough.
AMELIA CHRISTIE: We're really concerned about how slow nursing homes are being in terms of actually implementing the policy. They're meant to be implemented by September this year, but 73 per cent of homes elected for extra time so don't need to do it until 2016, and out of all the homes across the state that didn't have sprinklers at the time of the Quakers Hill fire, only 27 homes have actually put sprinklers in.
LINDY KERIN: Amelia Christie acknowledges it's an expensive exercise but she says some residents are particularly vulnerable when it comes to fire safety.
AMELIA CHRISTIE: We're talking about elderly people who are much more likely to be affected by smoke inhalation and sprinklers are really proven to prevent smoke from dissipating further. Other issues are the fact that they just simply can't evacuate themselves, particularly in the case of dementia patients, they're sometimes locked in a particular area.
So they're not able to easily evacuate so it's really important for safety reasons.
LINDY KERIN: The Department of Planning and Infrastructure has confirmed 27 facilities have installed the systems while 303 are in the planning, design or approval phases.
The Fire Protection Association's Scott Williams says he's pleased with the progress so far.
SCOTT WILLIAMS: We don't believe at this point in time that there is an issue. There has been good progression, there's an adequate workforce that is relatively experienced and qualified to do this work and as I said, the matter is complex,
LINDY KERIN: The Aged and Community Services New South Wales represents about 65 per cent of the state's nursing home sector. The CEO, Illana Halliday says they're on target to meet the deadline.
ILLANA HALLIDAY: These are very complex projects that need to be done while people are still living in it. Remember this is someone's home and so they have actually kept, we're on target.
The annual report is showing very old data. More recent data would show that we are actually on target to deliver this project in the timelines the State Government gave us in a safe, measured way to protect workers and the residents in their homes.
LINDY KERIN: Why is it so complex? What's so difficult about this roll out?
ILLANA HALLIDAY: You have to get into very confined spaces in old buildings in which people underneath are still living and they may be frail, bedbound or dementia. These people, it is their home. They are going to be there. You have to provide safety for them, you have to make a way of keeping them safe while people are working in those spaces and you have to make sure that the workers in those spaces are safe as well.
It's not like ripping into an empty hotel and putting sprinklers in. This is very difficult work.
ELEANOR HALL: That's Illana Halliday from Aged Care Community New South Wales speaking to Lindy Kerin.
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