Oakden care home senate inquiry: State Government and national auditors failed to protect patients

MANY more residents were subject to abuse and neglect at the Oakden aged-care home because the State Government and national auditors failed to shut its doors as early as 2008, a damning report reveals.

• Senior SA Health executive quits
• ICAC to publish report just before SA election
• Exposed: The horrific secrets of Oakden nursing home
• Hidden camera captures abuse, apparent suffocation at nursing home
• Oakden whistleblower says he was shut out by minister
• Allegations of barbaric assault and neglect

MANY more residents were subject to abuse and neglect at the Oakden aged-care home because the State Government and national auditors failed to shut its doors as early as 2008, a damning report reveals.

A Senate inquiry also found older Australians remain at risk of abuse and neglect in aged-care facilities around the country because the national auditor is not willing to learn from the mistakes made at Oakden.

The inquiry was conducted by Labor, Liberal and crossbench senators.

It reported “deep concern” over the time it took for the SA and federal governments to respond to residents’ complaints.

“Many subsequent instances of abuse and neglect occurred as a direct result of those with the oversight responsibility not acting earlier,” the report said.

The 75-page interim report, released on Tuesday night, states that continued blame-shifting and a “dismissive attitude towards failure” among the highest ranks of the national audit agency left the committee of the view there was no “genuine willingness” to learn from its mistakes.

Entrance to the Oakden older person mental health facility.

It was the first inquiry to censure the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency – the ­national auditor – over its repeated refusal to take responsibility for what occurred at Oakden, despite signing off on it to remain open – even after repeated failures over the course of a decade.

The committee was yesterday granted an extension for its final report in a move to expand the inquiry to other aged-care facilities. Families of residents abused at Oakden welcomed the inquiry being broadened to stop others’ suffering. The interim report made only one other recommendation – to ensure all dementia-related and other mental health services delivered in an aged-care were classified as health services to ensure providers meet a higher set of standards.

“A primary cause of the failures at Oakden was due to the specialist mental health ser­vices being delivered in the context of being classified as an aged-care service as opposed to a health service,” the report stated.

“This incorrect classification directly led to lower ­levels of service planning, workforce specialisation, oversight and regulation.”

Stewart Johnston, son of Helen Johnston.

Barb and Clive Spriggs, family of Bob Spriggs.

Stewart Johnston, whose mother Helen suffered abuse at Oakden, said accreditation standards must be improved because confidence in the national auditor was now “completely destroyed”. “I think Oakden is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

Clive Spriggs said this report emphasised the national scale of the issue.

He and his mother Barb’s fight to get answers about the abuse his father Bob suffered at Oakden brought the matter to public attention. “We weren’t the first family to complain. This outlines how badly we’ve all been let down,” he said.

Committee chair Greens Senator Rachel Siewert told Parliament: “It still boggles my mind how long this outrageous situation went on for.”

Labor senator Helen Polley criticised AACQA chief executive Nick Ryan for his refusal to accept chronic failures within his agency.

She said there were several points Oakden could have been closed going back to 2008. In evidence, Mr Ryan said “better information, strength and methodology” may have been picked the year before.

Nick Xenophon Team Senator Rex Patrick said there were real questions to be asked about the auditor’s capacity to ensure the safety of aged-care residents. Government senators pointed out it had already announced it would implement unannounced re-accreditation visits as soon as possible and further reforms were being considered.