Aged Care
Complaints put facility back on track
Developments at a Mudgee nursing home show aged care workers can get better staffing and other improvements if they are prepared to speak up.
An NSWNMA member who complained to the aged care regulator about an understaffed nursing home has welcomed improvements that came after the facility was sanctioned.
Jane*, an assistant in nursing, wrote to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission early in 2019.
She described the impact of cost-cutting on residents and staff of Pioneer House, a not-for-profit facility at Mudgee in central western NSW.
Her letter was prompted by staff cuts that included the loss of one AiN on morning and afternoon shifts and one enrolled nurse on morning shift.
She believes other staff also wrote to the quality commission.
“We were chronically under-staffed and had no time to look after the residents properly,” she said.
“Management also cut funding to recreational officers, which meant residents were not always encouraged to leave their rooms and activities became very limited with scarce resources.
“Residents were bored, depressed and cranky.
“These people were in my care yet my hands were tied because there was not enough staff to do the work.” The quality commission found the facility did not meet accreditation standards and the Department of Health imposed sanctions for six months. They were lifted in August.
In November 2019, the Aged Care Royal Commission heard that Pioneer House imposed staff cuts to try to reverse its poor financial performance.
Counsel assisting the royal commission, Peter Gray QC said there was ongoing conflict between the CEO/DON and the chair of the board.
“The chair was concerned about ongoing staff issues raised with him about lack of support from management. And the DON regarded this as interference,” Mr Gray said.
Staff queued to see inspectors
The board’s chair, Allan Codrington, said sanctions cost the facility about $934,000 in lost revenue, because it couldn’t accept new residents, and fees to experts required for re-accreditation.
Jane said that when quality commission inspectors visited the facility, “staff were queueing at the door to talk to them”.
“The inspectors talked to staff, residents and management and found out exactly what was going on.”
The quality commission recommended improvements and Pioneer House was required to appoint a nurse adviser and improve staff training.
“It was great because it instigated a lot of change,” Jane said.
“Since then, Pioneer House has reversed the staff cuts and most shifts are fully staffed – though it is hard to find skilled staff in a rural area like ours.
“We have a new DON, who is fantastic.
“Recommendations for better recreation have been put in place, and residents are happier and more engaged.
“We now have a spare minute to actually talk to the residents, and more time to do their care properly.
“More needs to be done about the food but they are having residents’ meetings about it and are talking to the kitchen as well.”
She said her experience shows aged care workers can get improvements if they are prepared to speak up.
“The residents mostly can’t or won’t speak up for themselves, and it’s not fair they have to put up with terrible treatment.
“I think it’s part of our duty of care to make sure they are looked after properly.
“If management refuses to do it, they need to be held to account.”
*Name changed on request