Kindred Living shuts Annie Lockwood Court nursing home in Whyalla after scabies allegations

An SA nursing home the aged-care watchdog said posed an “immediate and severe risk” has been closed, with residents given a month to move.

A nursing home that was at the centre of an alleged scabies outbreak last year has been shut down by its operator.

The families of residents of Annie Lockwood Court, in Whyalla, were given a month’s notice of the closure via email on Thursday.

A total of 37 people have to be relocated from the home, which was found earlier this year to have posed an “immediate and severe risk” to residents, by the end of August. Operator Kindred Living claimed the closure was due to a lack of skilled staff being available.

However, Kindred Living will continue to operate two other aged-care centres in Whyalla. Chief executive Juanita Walker said the organisation had “no alternative” but to close Annie Lockwood Court.

Kindred Living Annie Lockwood Court aged care facility is being investigated by federal authorities after allegations of poor conditions and a scabies outbreak. Picture: Supplied

“We have exhausted every possible option to recruit and retain a skilled workforce to ensure we can deliver safe and quality care that our residents expect and need,” she said.

“The decision to close Annie Lockwood Court Hostel is absolutely a last resort.”

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission launched an investigation into Annie Lockwood Court last year after Peter Strawbridge, a relative of a resident, blew the whistle on an alleged scabies outbreak.

The commission found shortcomings in eight standards of care, including consumer dignity and choice, personal and clinical care, feedback and complaints and human resources.

Kindred Living was required to train all employees in areas such as falls management, choking, malnutrition, personal care and infection control practices, among other areas.

But with Annie Lockwood Court to close, the residents will have to be moved.

In a written statement, Ms Walker and a Kindred Living chairman Tim Weiss said the group would attempt to relocate residents in Whyalla but admitted that some would have to look elsewhere.

Mr Strawbridge’s wife, Heather Adey, lives at Annie Lockwood Court and has dementia. She contracted scabies last year.

Mr Strawbridge said he faced having to move her to Port Augusta or Port Pirie – significantly increasing the travel for his daily visits.

“There are a couple of places (in Whyalla) but I don’t know if we can get in there,” he said.

Heather Adey, a resident at Kindred Living's Annie Lockwood Court aged care facility, was diagnosed with scabies last year. Picture: Supplied

“I give her a main meal every night since she’s been in there for 2½ years. It’s a two-hour drive up and back from Port Augusta and 2½ (hours) to Port Pirie and back.”

SA Best MP Frank Pangallo branded the closure “heartless”.

“It is also unbelievably distressing for families of the residents being kicked out as they are being forced to find alternative accommodation – potentially hundreds of kilometres from their homes,” he said.

“There is clearly a problem at Kindred Living in that it can’t attract appropriate staff”.

Mr Pangallo called for the board and management to resign.