Over 300 incidents reported to Aged Care Complaints Commissioner in 2015
CONCERNS about medication delivery, low staffing and pain management were among more than 300 complaints raised by South Australians on the standard of aged care over the past year.
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CONCERNS about delivery of medication, low staff levels and poor pain management were among more than 300 complaints raised by South Australians on the standard of aged care over the past year.
The Sunday Mail can reveal the extent and nature of complaints made to the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner by relatives and friends of clients in 2015-16. A total of 323 complaints were made — up from 313 in 2014-15.
The latest figures come after shocking hidden camera footage emerged this week of Clarence Hausler, 89, being violently force-fed and his breathing blocked by his carer at the Mitcham Residential Care Facility.
Camden Park man Corey Lyle Lucas, 29, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault charges last month and served three weeks in jail.
The number of South Australian complaints to the commissioner peaked at 387 in 2013-14, up from 315 the previous year. Over the past five years most have been about medication, including handling of medication, the time it was administered and qualifications of staff delivering it.
Another top area of concern was clinical care, including fears about whether doctors were contacted in a timely manner, and adequate monitoring of clients.
Jane Mussared, chief executive of Council on the Ageing SA, urged the public to “follow your instincts” and act “if you’re seeing or hearing things you don’t like”. She said: “Talk to the management of the (aged care) facility and if you make no progress, go to the Aged Care Commissioner or through the Aged Rights Advocacy Service. There are a whole lot of people doing a beautiful job in nursing homes (but) it’s likely there is more than one person who is not doing a good job.”
Despite this, Ms Mussared said, complaints were “good for business”. She added: “We would worry more if there were no complaints — because it’s unrealistic there would be no instances that worry people. The more complaints and the more active the resolution and follow-up of the complaints the healthier the sector.”
Aged Care Complaints Commissioner Rae Lamb said the commission had three important aims: “To resolve concerns, ensure people are safe and receiving good care, and make sure that lessons were learned and services improved so that the same thing doesn’t happen again”.
The commission dealt with complaints in a “range of ways”, Ms Lamb said. “We can investigate but we also organise and hold conciliation meetings and, where appropriate, work less formally to assist the parties to resolve the concerns.
“Where serious failings are found I can formally direct the service to take specified action to address the failings.”
In the final instance, Ms Lamb said she had the power to “refer the service to the Department of Health for possible compliance action”.