LETTER TO THE EDITOR

A right of reply from Ex-MI-Care staff members of the last two years Re: letter to the editor from the MI Care committee

Dear Editor,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to have a right of reply to the recent letter to the editor from the MI Care Committee.

We feel our story also needed to be told from our perspective on what happened to MI Care over the past 18 months - It has had a profound effect on our lives.

In mid to late 2024 a staff meeting was chaired by the current President, and the staff present were told that it had been identified that the organisation required a registered nurse to come on board to oversee any clinical matters.

The CEO's position would remain, and the registered nurse would work under the CEO.

Both the CEO and registered nurse would work closely together, taking MI Care forward to meet all aged care requirements.

At no time during or after this meeting, did any of the staff display any negativity or animosity towards the plan that had been presented.

Around the same time, the staff rostered on that day were advised they were required to attend a meeting in the boardroom.

Present at that meeting was the president, committee members and the current Clinical Care Manager, who was brought up from Brisbane.

Staff were advised that the CEO's position had been made redundant, and would be replaced by a Clinical Care Manager.

The staff were in total shock hearing this, as this was the first time they had been advised of the changes.  Some staff expressed their concern regarding the changes, as staff believed that the organisation was on track to meet its commitments.

This was how the staff were blindsided, having been told and believing one thing, and then advised of a completely different plan.

By early 2025 the workplace had become such a toxic environment to work in, the staff called a crisis meeting to address issues with the Clinical Care Manager, who was brought up from Brisbane.

During this meeting, staff were assured MI Care was on track to meet its requirements for the aged care changes coming in late 2025.

However, the staff’s concerns were not addressed by the board.

Subsequently, the fall-out from staff concerns, during the following months, 2 board members resigned, 7 staff members either retired or left, and high level HCP clients withdrew their packages in protest.

It’s also worth mentioning that during the first few months of 2025, another Clinical Nurse had been recruited and removed within the first couple of months of their tenure, and two HCP managers also came and went in short succession, with one HCP manager not even bothering to turn up for their first day at work.

During this period, the Clinical nurse from Brisbane was still working with MI Care in some capacity.

These events left MI Care financially vulnerable, and led to huge blow-out costs.

A comparison only needs to be done by looking at the 2023, 2024 and 2025 financial statements to see the difference.

There were huge expenditures on consultants, staff travel and accommodation, job agency fees and their staff, and failed recruitments of senior staff.  This led to the financial position of MI Care becoming unstable.

Another problem was that there was less funding from HCP client packages, as many clients left MI Care in protest.

Thank you for taking the time to read our right to reply.

Regards,

Ex- MI Care employees of the last two years