WHAT THE ROYAL COMMISSION INTO AGED CARE HAS HEARD:
* Geriatrician Edward Strivens has told the inquiry that psychotropic drugs, including antidepressants and sedatives, are too often used as the first resort to treat dementia patients in aged care.
* Nursing officials have told how nurses leaving the aged care sector are complaining of workloads that are unsafe and untenable.
* Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association of NSW policy manager Paul Versteege says inadequate nourishment is one of several recurring safety breaches in the sector with 50 per cent malnutrition rates very common in care facilities.
* Waiting times for home care packages are blowing out to as long as two years. Older Persons Advocacy Network chief executive Craig Gear says wait times should be cut to something under three months.
WHAT THE COMMISSION HAS BEEN ASKED TO DO:
* Clive Spriggs, whose father Bob died after being mistreated in Adelaide's infamous Oakden nursing home, has called for a national register of aged care workers to prevent abusers from simply moving between centres or between states.
* Mr Spriggs' mother Barb has called for a simpler way for people to raise concerns and it shouldn't be an online system.
* Council on the Ageing chief executive Ian Yates says aged care providers must encourage people to come forward with any complaints as a quality assurance mechanism.
WHERE DOES IT GO FROM HERE:
* The commission will sit for another five days in Adelaide next week when it will hear from a range of witnesses including aged care providers, health union officials and medical groups.
* It will return to Adelaide in March and is also scheduled to sit in May.
* Hearings will be held in other capital cities and in regional centres.
