The NSW Government says the aged care industry is on track to meet the requirements to improve fire safety in nursing homes, including Young’s Mt St Joseph’s.
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The first annual report from the Fire Sprinkler Systems Implementation Committee released this month and dated up to February, shows nearly 80 per cent of aged care homes required to install fire sprinklers have either completed or started work.
Mercy Place Mt St Joseph’s Nursing Home in Young, managed by Mercy Health, is among the 303 facilities in NSW who are in the planning, design or approval phases of their installation plans.
Twenty-seven facilities have completed their installations, with another 53 in the process of retrofitting their fire sprinkler systems.
In August 2012 the NSW Government announced it would become mandatory for all residential aged care facilities in the state to have an automatic sprinkler system installed, with laws taking effect from January 1, 2013.
This decision followed the tragic fire at a Quakers Hill nursing home in November 2011 which killed 11 nursing home residents.
It was estimated that by March 2013, 55 per cent of all existing residential aged care facilities, housing more than 60,000 people across NSW, did not have sprinklers installed.
When the legislation came into effect, 26 per cent (129) of facilities without sprinklers must retrofit fire sprinkler systems by September 2014 with the remainder 74 per cent or 355 facilities by March 2016.
A NSW Government planning and infrastructure department spokesperson said facilities were given two deadlines to enable the aged care industry to meet them in time.
However the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants (CPSA) of NSW claims nursing homes are continuing to stall on these life saving sprinklers.
“CPSA is appalled that nursing homes continue to lag on installing fire sprinklers in nursing homes despite their proven benefit,” CPSA manager of research and advocacy Amelia Christie said.
“Since sprinklers were made mandatory by the NSW Government at the end of 2012, 74 per cent of nursing homes applied for an extension of time for installation and are not required to have sprinklers installed until March 2016, over four years after the fire at Quakers Hill Nursing Home,” she said.
“Figures released [this month] show that only 27 nursing homes which were without sprinklers at the time the legislation came into play now have sprinklers installed. That leaves 448 aged care facilities without sprinklers, putting the lives of their elderly residents at risk.”
Mt St Joseph’s Nursing Home, which provides 65 beds at a single storey location in Campbell Street, had no fire sprinkler system installed prior to January 2013.
Mercy Health development manager Roman Lemke said tenders for Mt St Joseph’s were presently being reviewed with a decision to be made in May.
He said a completion date for the installation phase would hopefully be towards the end of August this year.
The home is also currently assessing the mains water flow and pressure to confirm if static water tanks and booster pumps are required.