Oakden ‘will never happen again’ if the Federal Government implements proposals to overhaul aged care
AN Oakden-scale patient abuse scandal will be prevented if the Federal Government enforces proposed new rules to overhaul the aged care system, an independent review will show.
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AN Oakden-scale patient abuse scandal would be prevented if the Federal Government enforced proposed rules to overhaul the aged-care system, an independent review will show.
On Tuesday, Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt will be handed a “substantial” report into how to fix the aged-care system.
It was commissioned following the disturbing revelations about patient treatment at the Oakden facility.
Independent reviewer Kate Carnell told The Advertiser the report outlined a set of proposals that “if implemented in full” would make a “significant difference” to the system.
“We’ve looked at the things that are working well and things that aren’t. What went wrong at Oakden and how to make changes to the current system to stop that happening again,” she said.
Ms Carnell said the report did not contain a high number of recommendations because the reviewers were focused on ensuring that the changes were realistic.
“Really, really long reports are usually just doorstops,” she said.
“The report is certainly substantial but it’s not a doorstop and (the recommendations) are absolutely doable.”
A report by former South Australian chief psychiatrist Aaron Groves released in April detailed the systemic abuse and neglect of patients at the Oakden facility over a decade.
Despite the glaring failures in care offered at the State Government-run site in Adelaide’s northeast, the Federal Government’s audit agency repeatedly gave it full marks to continue to operate, including an audit in February last year that gave the facility a big tick.
But an unannounced audit of the site in March found it failed to meet 15 of the 44 basic service requirements.
That prompted Mr Wyatt to commission an independent review of the Commonwealth’s aged-care regulatory processes to determine why the extent of the failures at Oakden was not identified.
The review examined Commonwealth regulatory practices relating to monitoring the quality and standard of care in residential aged-care facilities.
Ms Carnell would not be drawn on the specifics of the recommendations and said it was up to the Minster to make the report public.
The Advertiser understands Mr Wyatt plans to respond to the report promptly.
“This review is a crucial step in ensuring that older Australians are cared for properly, with safety and respect,” Mr Wyatt said.
A recent national audit found almost 600 aged-care homes across the country failed to meet basic patient care standards in the past five years.
The Oakden scandal is also the subject of an Independent Commission Against Corruption probe and Senate inquiry.