Cause for concern at Minda Nursing Home outlined in sanctions report

Minda says its nursing home now meets all standards, following sanctions imposed six months ago. The raft of problems which prompted the sanctions can now be revealed.

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Staff without appropriate training or background checks, expired medication and residents in “ongoing pain” were among problems found in an audit of Minda Nursing Home, The Advertiser can reveal.

It comes as the well-known disability provider outlines a raft of changes, it says, have improved conditions since sanctions were imposed on its facility in the wake of the audit six months ago.

The Federal Health Department sanctions will expire on June 25 with Minda saying the nursing home “now meets all expected standards”.

In January, authorities announced an inspection of the 54-bed Minda Nursing Home had found “an immediate and severe risk” to residents because of failings in areas, including specialist nursing care, pain management, nutrition and hydration, and behaviour management.

Authorities announced a series of failings at Minda Nursing Home earlier this year, which Minda says are now resolved. Picture: iStock

The Advertiser can now outline the inspection findings, as detailed in a report by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

It found only 20 of 44 criteria were met. Concerns included:

CASUAL staff without criminal record checks;

PROBLEMS with managing feeding tubes, catheters and residents’ diabetes needs;

POOR monitoring by staff resulting in “ongoing pain” and “ongoing deterioration of (skin) wounds” for residents;

USE of expired or unlabelled medication and drugs in damaged packaging, and medication “incidents” occurring “due to staff inattention and distraction”, and;

CLEANERS leaving chemicals unsupervised near residents.

The report also warns staff did not have the “skills or knowledge” to manage residents with challenging behaviours. Casual or relief staff were hired “on a daily basis to fill vacant shifts” but were not “provided with sufficient information” to do the job.

Minda chief executive officer Clare Allen, who was appointed last month, said that an audit at the end of May found Minda now met all requirements.

Minda chief executive officer Dr Clare Allen was appointed in May.

“We have worked through every single thing that was raised and they have said we are compliant,” she said.

Minda issued a written statement saying a follow-up inspection “found significant improvement in all areas, particularly in resident safety, quality of care, lifestyle programs and the living environment”. Minda has spent about $300,000 on upgrades to the nursing home, delivered “extensive staff training” and contracted an external administrator who will stay on as a consultant for up to a year to ensure changes in culture and services are “maintained longer term”.

Following the departure of senior staff, Minda has hired several new staff in key areas and has appointed four new Board members.

The statement says they “bring fresh thinking, new skills and the experience needed”.

A review of Minda’s governance has also made 35 recommendations for better compliance reporting, communication with clients and their families and systems to raise complaints.

Minda is one of six SA nursing homes under sanctions.