Govt. Imposed Sanctions Against Aged Care Facility (Vic. Australia)

6 March 2009

The Australian Government has imposed sanctions on Kendalle Pty Ltd, the approved provider of Grandview Gardens Aged Care Facility in Dandenong, Victoria – citing serious risk to resident health and safety.

A serious complaint about poor wound management at the home was received by the Department of Health and Ageing on 24 February which conducted an unannounced visit the same day.

This was followed by a referral to the independent Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency which undertook a comprehensive review audit at the home.

The Accreditation Agency identified serious risk to the health, safety and well-being of residents in the Grandview Gardens Aged Care Facility. The official sanction was issued and served on March 4.

The Australian Government has been monitoring Grandview Gardens since issues were raised by an “informant” in late-October about non-payment of staff entitlements. Further concerns were raised by the Australian Nursing Federation and family members at Christmas.

Grandview has been the subject of visits since then by the Accreditation Agency and Commonwealth Nursing Officers from the Department of Health and Ageing.

Grandview Gardens Aged Care Facility has 60 high care places. It currently has 56 high care residents. (It has 12 residents over the age of 90.

At Grandview Gardens Aged Care Facility, the Accreditation Agency had concerns about serious risk to the health, safety and well-being of residents related to pain management, skin care and human resource management, including:

• Systems and processes at the Home to manage clinical care were ineffective in ensuring that the care needs of residents were met;
• Pain assessments and management plans were not implemented effectively and were not reflective of the severity of the residents’ pain;
• Residents’ skin integrity was not being maintained, and appropriate interventions to reduce the likelihood of serious wounds were not being implemented consistently;
• Staff lack of knowledge of appropriate care interventions was impacting on residents’ health and wellbeing;
• Individual problems like bed sores, pressure wounds and failure to change stoma bags causing discomfort for residents; and
• Staff vacancies were often not filled and staff were regularly expected to undertake double shifts – of more than 15 hours.

SOURCE:    Health Dept. Australian Govt

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