Large sections of data on an aged care audit have been blanked out
The Opposition has attacked the audit of public aged care homes — which it did not do while in power — for blanking out large sections detailing concerns.
SA News
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Aged care residents being restrained for seven hours at a time, “undue force” used by staff on the frail elderly and poor hygiene have been revealed in South Australia’s public nursing home system — but the full picture has been blanked out with sections redacted.
The independent audit of 44 aged care facilities run by SA Health ordered by the State Government resulted in 14 recommendations including an end to physical and chemical restraints of residents affected by conditions such as dementia.
Health and Wellbeing Minister Stephen Wade praised the report as “sunshine” on the sector in the wake of the Oakden scandal and noted Labor while in power did not conduct such a check.
However, Opposition health spokesman Chris Picton condemned the report for redacting large sections.
He acknowledged privacy considerations may see some names and details kept from public view but accused the government of hiding details.
He said the report had been “heavily redacted” but revealed conditions ranging from residents being restrained for hours at a Lameroo home to squalid conditions, “including soiled clothing, soiled furniture, food left on the floor and residents mouths not being cleaned after meals” in others.
“I’m shocked by the details of neglect and abuse revealed in this audit, and I’m extremely concerned about the incidents which have been covered up through heavy redactions,” he said.
“Nobody would want their loved one submitted to conditions such as those described in this report.
“The question is, why did the Marshall Liberal Government sit on this report for more than 130 days, and why is it so heavily redacted? What are they covering up? South Australians have a right to know.”
A SA Health spokesman noted all redactions are made in line with Freedom of Information Act.
“Redactions are used in documents to maintain privacy of individuals when dealing with personal or sensitive information. In particular, when patients could be easily identified in the context of small facilities or communities,” he said.
The report sparked a twitter fight between Mr Picton and the South Australian Liberal Party as Mr Picton posted report after report which had been blanked out.
The Liberal Party response was: “Where were Labor’s audits into the majority of state-run aged care facilities during your 16 years in Government? Oh that’s right, you didn’t do any. And then Oakden happened. This Government launched this audit. We are serious about improving aged care. Your record is abysmal.”
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Mr Picton accused the government of sitting on the audit for more than 130 days then timing its release to coincide with the Royal Commission report into aged care in an effort to ensure little publicity.
“There are shocking cases of abuse and neglect but there is still a lot we don’t know – they have been heavily redacted,” he said.
“They have omitted key details of abuse and neglect. Families and the public of South Australia deserve to know the full facts and not have them covered up.
“We have recently had talk about the public’s right to know – here we clearly have a case of the government releasing a report with key elements redacted so the public can’t see what’s happened.”