Facility: John Mercer Lodge
Provider: Silver Chain

Problems with care and staff management include "...risks to residents included inadequate nutrition and hydration and insufficient attention to resident's skin care needs" The Agency said the facility had not enough staff and they lacked the appropriate skills to provide care and services to residents.

3 sanctions imposed | Federal funding cut off to nursing home

3.Oct.08

NSW

Facility: Glenwood Gardens
Provider: Glenwood Gardens Ltd

The agency identified  "serious risks'' to the home's 43 residents, including inadequate nutrition and hydration, inadequate skin care, inadequate pain management practices, inappropriate administration of medication, and the inadequate monitoring of care and referrals to health professionals.

3 sanctions imposed | Nursing home deemed a 'serious risk'

Facilities: Rosden Private Nursing Home; Ti Tree Gardens and Lakes Entrance Aged Care Facility
Provider: T.C.L. Nominees Pty Ltd.

3 Victorian Nursing Homes gone into receivership: The nursing home's operator, TCL Nominees, says it has now appointed receivers for Rosden.

Two other nursing homes operated by businesses associated with TCL have also gone into receivership. They are Ti Tree Gardens in Rosebud and the Lakes Entrance Aged Care Facility.

Facility: Rosden Private Nursing Home
Provider: T.C.L. Nominees Pty Ltd.

2 Sanctions imposed: Report summarising the review audit

Crunch comes for Bridgewater Aged Care investors

"...Bridgewater Aged Care home went into administration on May 23 with $8.5 million in missing money.
INVESTORS in a failed Roxburgh Park aged-care home have been offered less than a third of what they paid because $8.5 million is missing.

Roxburgh Park mother-of-five Melanie Olson broke down last week as she told the Leader the latest offer for her investment a single-bedroom was $41,000. She paid $127,000 for it in 2005. She and her husband thought the investment, in Bridgewater Aged Care home, would secure a future for her children. Now she fears she will leave them in debt..."

Facility: Docker River aged care facility

Docker River death puts aged care failings in spotlight:

"...AN ELDERLY indigenous woman burned to death at a government-funded aged care centre that had no night-time supervision and was the subject of earlier complaints...

ABC Lateline understands that there have been no overnight staff working at the home since the time of Mrs Brumby's death and that two bedridden patients have had to rely on other patients pushing duress buttons to get help from staff asleep in another facility.

Lateline can also reveal that the Commonwealth Department of Health was alerted as early as 2005 to facility's poor standards when it received a major complaint by a community development consultant who visited the aged care home..."

Two aged centres in strife over pay

TWO aged care facilities in the Ballarat region will be forced to back pay almost $30,000 to staff after a national audit by the Workplace Ombudsman.

The underpayments were discovered as part of a campaign targeting the human services sector.

Aged care workers underpaid

Twenty aged care workers in Mount Gambier and Millicent have been underpaid by more than $6000, according to the Workplace Ombudsman.

Acting Workplace Ombudsman Alfred Bongi made the announcement after inspectors randomly investigated 21 South Australian aged care facilities.

Adelaide nursing home staff docks workers wages for patient deaths

AN Adelaide nursing home has been caught docking workers' wages every time a patient died, to help cover the costs of having a vacant bed. About 60 staff members had deductions made from their pay, collectively worth $25,500, going back to March, 2006.

Workplace Ombudsman staff raided the privately run eastern suburbs home after a tip from independent witnesses.

Training firm fined for underpaying Chinese aged care workers

A Melbourne company has been fined $40,000 for underpaying Chinese aged care workers who were getting a flat $439 for a 68-hour week. The federal Workplace Ombudsman took legal action against Education Training and Employment Australia (ETEA) which had recruited eight Chinese students to work as nursing attendants and personal care attendants in at least 15 aged care facilities.

17.Sep.08

VIC

Facility: Lakes Entrance Aged Care Facility
Provider: JKL Nominees Pty Ltd

2 Sanctions imposed - Serious risk identified | Vic nursing home sanctioned lack of care

Facility: Caroona Kalina Nursing Home
Provider: Uniting Church in Australia Properties Trust NSW

Lismore nursing home under investigation:

"...(the residents) weren't allowed to ring their buzzer after lunch because no staff were on duty to take them to the toilet," Ms DeAble said.

Ms DeAble hasn't made a formal complaint, but said the practice had been going on for 'a few months'. She said she thought it was due to a staff shortage at the nursing home. "It's a problem on the management side and rostering side, but who is suffering? The residents," Ms DeAble said.

Facility: Yaralla Place
Provider: Queensland Health – Fraser Coast Health Service District

Health workers allege bullying in Fraser Coast district

"...THREE health workers have alleged bullying in Queensland Health's Fraser Coast District, including one employee suspended for staring at a co-worker.

Queensland Health is already being sued by a veteran speech pathologist, suspended after writing a memo about staffing problems at state-run nursing home Yaralla Place*.

Eighty-five nurses and support staff at Hervey Bay Hospital have written a letter of support on behalf of Quaneta Greenwood, a senior speech pathologist facing the sack after alerting colleagues to inadequate staffing at Yaralla Place.

*The Maryborough nursing home was later sanctioned after complaints on 20 Jun 2008 by the Federal Government for putting patients at serious risk and failing half of the nationally required standards.

Facility: Moara Shira Lodge
The Moara Shira Lodge at Cobram in north-central Victoria is a Supported Residential Service providing accommodation for people who cannot look after themselves, including the elderly and the intellectually handicapped.

'It was worse than a prison,' says one former resident of a care home that stands accused of neglecting the vulnerable

"... Three former workers at the home say that the residents had been bullied and suffered substandard medical care for years. They alleged that residents have felt physically and verbally intimidated, had medical treatment withheld and lived in a constant state of fear.

The former workers all say they made complaints when they worked at the home, but the Department of Human Services ignored them.

One resident, Barry Smith, died of a suspected heart attack in April last year and was found in the morning only after he failed to attend breakfast... Former staff believe he had pressed his alarm that night but that no one came to check on him.

"...clients are given one hot meal a day in the evening with portions so small that some residents miss out on meat. For example one leg of lamb (bone included) with not more than 2kg of uncooked meat is used to serve 31 residents... plus Anita."

• The Market Fails Residents Living in Pension-Level Supported Residential Services (SRSs)

VIC

Facility: Patricia Gladwell Aged Care Home
Provider: Vaucluse Hospital Pty Ltd.

A recent audit identified 30 out of 44 areas at the Patricia Gladwell Aged Care Home, a 60-bed nursing home in Brunswick. The report has revealed faeces was found in bedrooms at the facility and residents were left to wet themselves.

It also found staff lacked basic training and were too busy to feed people on time .. and sometimes gave out the wrong medication.

Inspectors found one trolley that was used for food delivery as well as waste disposal and dirty linen.

3 Sanctions imposed | Nursing home told to clean up its act

Facility: Sir James Terrace
Provider: SJT Aged Care Services Pty Ltd

2 Sanctions imposed where serious risk was identified. Approval as an approved provider of aged care services revoked unless the approved provider agrees to provide, at its expense, relevant training for its officers, employees and agents.

A sick system of aged care

Facility: Rockingham Cardwell Shire Home for the Aged
Provider: Cardwell Care Incorporated

2 Sanctions imposed where serious risk was identified. in relation to the Accreditation Standards of both 2.1 Continuous improvement and 2.4 Clinical care.

Facility: Brighton Aged Care
Provider: Aged Case Services Australia Group Pty Ltd

Neglect probe puts aged home on notice: A TROUBLE-plagued Adelaide nursing home is under federal investigation, after an audit raised concerns about potential neglect, including failing to provide residents with adequate food and water.

A review audit of Brighton Aged Care this month found the centre was potentially not complying with 14 out of 44 basic accreditation standards, including ensuring residents had adequate nourishment and hydration, were free from pain, and had a right to privacy and dignity and emotional support.

Facility: Mirridong
Provider: Aged Case Services Australia Group Pty Ltd

An employee contacted The Advertiser yesterday concerned about the welfare of elderly residents at the 60-bed facility after they spent Sunday without central heating...The temperature didn’t climb above 8.3 degrees on Sunday and the employee...said families of residents at the McIvor Road facility were prevented from bringing heaters for their loved ones because of safety regulations. The employee said residents were promised extra blankets, but none were available.

Bridgewater Aged Care Facility

Roxburgh Park nursing home fails 18 standards of care

Read all related articles

High time for change in aged care industry

"...When did it become acceptable to treat our elderly so appallingly?

Why weren't we outraged when we recently discovered that residents of one aged care home were found to weigh less than 25kg?

Why isn't it a barbecue stopper that a serious lack of clinical care and basic hygiene failures are routine events in our aged care industry?  Are we so convinced that it couldn't one day be us sitting in dirty incontinence pads for hours, begging for a shower, that we don't consider it a priority?..."

Funding change forces hostels to refuse elderly

ELDERLY people are being turned away from aged-care hostels even when vacancies exist because it is no longer financially viable to care for them.

People who could afford to pay a big accommodation bond to get into a hostel were likely to get more favourable consideration, service providers said. The interest on the bond might compensate for the lack of funding.

(Editors note: otherwise known as "cherry-picking" the residents - more money, more chance of placement...)

No room at the nursing homes

THE strain on Wagga’s residential aged care facilities is forcing some Wagga families to send their loved ones out of town.

With the occupancy rate at Wagga’s five nursing homes all around 99 per cent, any family that has an unexpected need for a bed is likely to have to accept a place in a district Multi Purpose Service (MPS) or in a private aged care facility in another town, at least for the short term until a bed can be found in Wagga.

The shortage of spaces is forcing families to place their loved ones out of town.

The crisis is splitting families and placing people in the unhappy position of waiting for somebody else’s loved one to die, so their elderly parent or grandparent can come back to Wagga.

George Forbes House in Queanbeyan

The operators of a Queanbeyan nursing home are investigating claims a resident was left untreated with a broken pelvis, pneumonia and a pressure sore for up to two weeks.

Family members said ''We were quite disgusted with the fact she had the pressure sores and pneumonia,'' Mrs Cardwell said. ''I think the people in charge should have picked up that she was as sick as she was.''

Facility: Kirralee Nursing Home
Provider: Aged Case Services Australia Group Pty Ltd

A further 4 Sanctions imposed:

• Sanction 1: Revoke allocation of vacant places on a progressive basis.
• Sanction 2: Prohibit the future allocation of places for the period of 12 months.
• Sanction 3: Provide training in clinical care; specialised nursing care needs; pain management; and skin care.
• Sanction 4: Approval as an approved provider of aged care services revoked unless an administrator is appointed for a period of 6 months.

Facility: Kirralee Nursing Home
Provider: Aged Case Services Australia Group Pty Ltd

Serious risk, in relation to the Accreditation Standards: Health and Personal Care including concerns with Nutrition and Hydration

Kirralee Residential Aged Care Facility in Ballarat (operated by Aged Care Services Australia Group), has been accused of exposing its residents to serious dehydration and nutrition risks...10 residents were found to be dangerously underweight, including two weighing less than 25kg..."

2 Sanctions imposed: Families tell of uncaring attitude at nursing home | Ballarat nursing home faces charges for malnourishment

Facility: Parkdale House

Provider: McKinnon Retirement Pty Ltd

2 sanctions imposed The Agency identified serious risk, in relation to the Accreditation Standards, particularly Standard 2, Health and Personal Care including concerns with Nutrition and Hydration.

Facility: Eventide Nursing Home
Provider: QLD Health - Northside Health Service District

Nursing home found in breach of act over accident with a hoist:

"...EVENTIDE Nursing Home in Brighton has been found in breach of the Aged Care Act 1997 by the Federal Department of Health and Ageing (DOHA).

The breach comes after an elderly resident was allegedly found unconscious after left hanging in a hoist by a male nurse on March 20..."

Related articles

SA

Facility: Salisbury Gardens Aged Care Service
Provider: Arcanola Pty Ltd

2 sanctions imposed where serious risk was identified in relation to Human Resource Management and Clinical Care.

Facility: Albany Gardens Nursing Centre
Provider: Shownoff Pty Ltd

2 sanctions imposed where serious risk was identified in relation to management systems, staffing and organisational development and health and personal care.

Facility: Yaralla Place
Provider: Queensland Health – Fraser Coast Health Service District

State home put patients at risk

2 sanctions imposed where serious risk was identified in relation to clinical care.

Facility: Ny-Ku Byun
Provider: Cherbourg Community Council

Queensland nursing home standards attacked

1 sanction imposed where serious risk was identified through Clinical Care.