Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to investigate major incidents in Oakden scandal’s wake

AN elite team will investigate major incidents at nursing homes under plans to prevent an Oakden-style scandal from happening again in the aged-care sector.

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AN elite team will investigate major incidents at nursing homes under plans to prevent an Oakden-style scandal from happening again in the aged-care sector.

Federal Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt will visit Adelaide on Wednesday to announce an overhaul of residential and community care service regulation.

As revealed by The Advertiser in February, three existing regulators will be merged into an independent Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

The commission will include a Serious Incident Response Scheme, which will respond to major complaints and disease outbreaks at aged-care services and recommend changes to prevent problems from happening again.

“We must ensure that disasters like Oakden are never repeated,” Mr Wyatt said.

“Our senior Australians have built the nation that we enjoy today. They have rightly earned the respect of the community and must be cared for with the dignity they deserve.”

Mr Wyatt said the commission would be a responsive “one-stop shop”, which prevented failures and ensured quality concerns were quickly rectified.

“This builds on the Government’s recent introduction of unannounced reaccreditation audits across every one of Australia’s residential aged care facilities,’’ he said.

The State Government-run Oakden Older Persons Mental Health Service was shut down in 2017 after a damning report revealed residents had been over-medicated, physically abused and isolated.

Minister for Aged Care Ken Wyatt. Picture: Sam Rosewarne

Mr Wyatt said the commission would give senior Australians and their families a single point of contact when they needed help dealing with substandard care.

“Risks to senior Australians will be investigated promptly and care failures identified faster,’’ he said.

A new Chief Clinical Advisor will provide advice to the commission on clinical matters, including medication management.

The new commission will combine responsibilities currently shared by the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency, the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner and the federal Health Department.

A review found the current structure is fragmented and does not provide the assurance the community expects.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will begin operating at the start of 2019.

About 240,000 Australians live in residential aged care facilities and that number is set to grow rapidly as the Baby Boomer generation continues to age.

Federal Government reports show the health and welfare of residents in five SA aged care homes was placed at serious risk in 2016-17.

“We recognise that the vast majority of providers give consistent, quality care to the residents. But, as we have seen, there can be failures,’’ Mr Wyatt said.

In a report released in February, Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander said the Oakden scandal had been a “shameful chapter in SA’s history”.