18 nursing homes fail audit; SA boss ‘spat on in the street’

Edenfield Family Care in Nerrilda failed to meet standards for personal and clinical care and staffing during a surprise audit by the federal government’s Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) in July.Three residents at Edenfield Family Care in Nerrilda told inspectors they were distressed about the “wandering and sexually inappropriate behaviours’’ of a resident with dementia, who has since been moved to a different home, the audit report states.The home’s managing director, Jesse Selvarajah, said he was challenging the ACQSC audit findings.“I was spat on in the street,’’ he said.“They got things so wrong in the audit report I put in a formal complaint.“An external adviser engaged by us has undertaken a review of the commission’s report.“We wish to assure our residents and families, staff and the community that we are working diligently to ensure that we continue to deliver the quality care that our residents deserve and expect.’’An ACQSC spokesman said the home, owned by El-Jasbella Nerrilda Pty Ltd, had been non-compliant with 10 of the 42 requirements of the aged care quality standards.“If a party is dissatisfied with the outcome of a decision, they are within their rights to seek a review,’’ a spokesman said.Edenfield is one of 18 SA homes that failed ACQSC inspections this year.Nine cases of resident assaults were not reported by the Strathalbyn and District Aged Care Facility, inspectors discovered during an audit in July.“The service did not manage nine consumer-to-consumer assault incidents in accordance with legislative requirements,’’ the audit report states. Seven residents at the Ridleyton Greek Home for the Aged have had “crowd control belts’’ or gates fitted to their doors to stop another resident wandering into their rooms at night.Inspectors found that one resident’s “wandering behaviours’’ left other residents “feeling scared and distressed’’, while family members fear they are “not safe’’.The audit revealed 14 cases of assault or suspected assaults in April, including nine cases of a resident’s “physical aggression’’ against staff.At Life Care’s Aldinga Beach Court Hostel, an audit in March revealed that a resident had injured fellow residents during “several physically aggressive incidents’’ over three months.“Management did not report a consumer’s allegation of abuse in accordance with relevant legislative requirements,’’ the audit report states.The audit found residents had to wait more than half an hour for staff to answer their call bells on 488 occasions in January, despite the hostel’s aim to respond to all call bells within eight minutes.Search our table below for the Australian aged care homes that have failed a government audit: NED-4800-Aged-CareLife Care chief executive Allen Candy said yesterday the home had provided additional training and increased staff numbers in the memory support unit.“We acknowledge that an error was made by not internally reporting an incident between residents,’’ he said.“The staff involved have been counselled and our internal processes strengthened.’’Mr Candy said the response time for call bells had been “unacceptable’’ but the home had since achieved an 80 per cent reduction in wait times longer than half an hour.“There are many reasons for residents using the call bell, including requesting a cup of tea and asking a question,’’ he said.“In some instances, staff leave the call bell on so they can return to the resident after assisting others with more urgent requests.’’Gawler Grande Views at Gawler East failed an audit in July for breaching Covid-19 rules.“Staff were observed breaching the donning and doffing of PPE (personal protective equipment), standard and transmission based precautions, and density requirements,’’ the audit report states.“Infection control precautions and supplies were observed to be inadequate for a consumer who had been placed in isolation whilst awaiting Covid-19 test results,’’ the audit report states.The ACQSC said Gawler Grande Views management disputed its findings and had “rectified the deficiencies’’, but ruled that it had breached standards of personal and clinical care.Grande Views general manager Michael Bennett said the PPE breach “was immediately noticed by staff at the time it occurred’’ and staff had been given training.“Months later Grande Views received a non-compliance notice even though the incident had been identified and acted upon,’’ he said.“Grande Views takes enormous pride in the high quality of care provided by our staff to our residents.’’A News Corp Australia investigation can reveal that 155 nursing homes failed inspections this year – and 32 were slapped with sanctions or “notices to agree’’.Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson said inspectors had visited 3600 aged care homes in 2020/21, and new quality standards had “lifted the bar’’ for nursing homes.

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October 23, 2021 at 11:30PM
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Edenfield Family Care in Nerrilda failed to meet standards for personal and clinical care and staffing during a surprise audit by the federal government’s Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) in July.Three residents at Edenfield Family Care in Nerrilda told inspectors they were distressed about the “wandering and sexually inappropriate behaviours’’ of a resident with dementia, who has since been moved to a different home, the audit report states.The home’s managing director, Jesse Selvarajah, said he was challenging the ACQSC audit findings.“I was spat on in the street,’’ he said.“They got things so wrong in the audit report I put in a formal complaint.“An external adviser engaged by us has undertaken a review of the commission’s report.“We wish to assure our residents and families, staff and the community that we are working diligently to ensure that we continue to deliver the quality care that our residents deserve and expect.’’An ACQSC spokesman said the home, owned by El-Jasbella Nerrilda Pty Ltd, had been non-compliant with 10 of the 42 requirements of the aged care quality standards.“If a party is dissatisfied with the outcome of a decision, they are within their rights to seek a review,’’ a spokesman said.Edenfield is one of 18 SA homes that failed ACQSC inspections this year.Nine cases of resident assaults were not reported by the Strathalbyn and District Aged Care Facility, inspectors discovered during an audit in July.“The service did not manage nine consumer-to-consumer assault incidents in accordance with legislative requirements,’’ the audit report states. Seven residents at the Ridleyton Greek Home for the Aged have had “crowd control belts’’ or gates fitted to their doors to stop another resident wandering into their rooms at night.Inspectors found that one resident’s “wandering behaviours’’ left other residents “feeling scared and distressed’’, while family members fear they are “not safe’’.The audit revealed 14 cases of assault or suspected assaults in April, including nine cases of a resident’s “physical aggression’’ against staff.At Life Care’s Aldinga Beach Court Hostel, an audit in March revealed that a resident had injured fellow residents during “several physically aggressive incidents’’ over three months.“Management did not report a consumer’s allegation of abuse in accordance with relevant legislative requirements,’’ the audit report states.The audit found residents had to wait more than half an hour for staff to answer their call bells on 488 occasions in January, despite the hostel’s aim to respond to all call bells within eight minutes.Search our table below for the Australian aged care homes that have failed a government audit: NED-4800-Aged-CareLife Care chief executive Allen Candy said yesterday the home had provided additional training and increased staff numbers in the memory support unit.“We acknowledge that an error was made by not internally reporting an incident between residents,’’ he said.“The staff involved have been counselled and our internal processes strengthened.’’Mr Candy said the response time for call bells had been “unacceptable’’ but the home had since achieved an 80 per cent reduction in wait times longer than half an hour.“There are many reasons for residents using the call bell, including requesting a cup of tea and asking a question,’’ he said.“In some instances, staff leave the call bell on so they can return to the resident after assisting others with more urgent requests.’’Gawler Grande Views at Gawler East failed an audit in July for breaching Covid-19 rules.“Staff were observed breaching the donning and doffing of PPE (personal protective equipment), standard and transmission based precautions, and density requirements,’’ the audit report states.“Infection control precautions and supplies were observed to be inadequate for a consumer who had been placed in isolation whilst awaiting Covid-19 test results,’’ the audit report states.The ACQSC said Gawler Grande Views management disputed its findings and had “rectified the deficiencies’’, but ruled that it had breached standards of personal and clinical care.Grande Views general manager Michael Bennett said the PPE breach “was immediately noticed by staff at the time it occurred’’ and staff had been given training.“Months later Grande Views received a non-compliance notice even though the incident had been identified and acted upon,’’ he said.“Grande Views takes enormous pride in the high quality of care provided by our staff to our residents.’’A News Corp Australia investigation can reveal that 155 nursing homes failed inspections this year – and 32 were slapped with sanctions or “notices to agree’’.Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson said inspectors had visited 3600 aged care homes in 2020/21, and new quality standards had “lifted the bar’’ for nursing homes.