Inquest into 2008 Oakden nursing home death hears of facility’s shocking conditions

RESIDENTS at the disgraced Oakden nursing home lost up to 10kg in six months and concerned staff were told to “look after our future careers” by the health rights watchdog, an inquest into the 2008 murder of Graham Rollbusch has heard.

• Oakden report released: ICAC Commissioner hands down damning report
• Victims’ families wait months to know if inquests will be held
• Mental health watchdog wants Oakden deaths investigated
• Coroner gets extra funding, but it doesn’t cover Oakden inquests
• Cash-strapped coroner willing to hold inquests if funds are available
• Families desperate for answers

RESIDENTS at the disgraced Oakden nursing home lost up to 10kg in six months and concerned staff were told to “look after our future careers” by the health rights watchdog, an inquest into the 2008 murder of Graham Rollbusch has heard.

The revelations come as Indepen­dent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander today released his report into the Oakden scandal – which has the potential to rock a state election campaign just weeks from polling day.

State Coroner Mark Johns heard evidence yesterday about the shocking conditions at the facility before the murder of Mr Rollbusch in early 2008.

Graham Rollbusch, 70, died after being attacked by another resident, Peter Palmer.

He was told a senior nurse and clinical psychologist spoke to the then Health and Community Complaints Commissioner, Leena Sudano, about their concerns but was told nothing could be done.

Intensive and Acute Care Statewide Services nursing director Sharon Olsson told the inquest she was reluctantly moved from the Glenside campus to Oakden in January 2008 after it failed to meet accreditation standards in August 2007.

On arrival, her initial concerns were:

SOME residents were emaciated, losing up to 10kg in six months.

MEDICATION was being mixed in a chipped mortar and pestle.

THE mortar and pestle was not cleaned between medication preparations.

BROKEN furniture was found throughout the facility.

FEW patients were having medication reviewed by the general practitioner.

NURSES lacked contemporary training for dealing with dementia patients.

ICAC REPORT RELEASED: READ THE OAKDEN FINDINGS HERE

Ms Olsson said experienced staff, including psychologist Fiona Meredith and nurse advisers Neil and Carla Baron, were brought in to help fix standards at the facility after August 2007 – but she said their efforts were fruitless.

“(Following a meeting), Carla and Neil said they just couldn’t stay because they weren’t going to get any support, so they resigned,” she said.

“Fiona and I talked ... and we didn’t think we would get anywhere with the minister, so we decided to go to the Health and Community Complaints Commissioner, who at the time was Leena Sudano.

“She thanked us for coming, said that they were very complex issues and empathised, but said that she didn’t have the resources to deal with it and to look after our future careers – look after ourselves.”

The now infamous shut down Oakden Older Person Mental Health Facility.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Kathryn Waite, asked Ms Olsson what she believed that meant.

“That meant we weren’t going anywhere,” Ms Olsson said.

She said nurses at Oakden would struggle to cope with dementia patients who suffered from a cognitive impairment.

“I stayed behind late one night because I wanted to see how much the residents were eating and how much food was returned,” Ms Olsson said.

“What I found was that if a resident was being a little bit difficult – for example, pushing the nurse’s hand away or something – there would often be replies like ‘oh, well you’re not hungry, you don’t want it’.

“It would just go back to the kitchen.”

The inquest also heard that more experienced staff would be shifted to Oakden from Glenside so it could meet accreditation standards, then they went back to their original posting.

Former Oakden nursing director Kerim Skelton said there was quite a high vacancy rate at the aged-care home and it was considered “punishment” to work at the Oakden facility.

Families of former Oakden residents are furious at being forced to wait until today’s ICAC report before finding out if there will be inquests into their deaths.

Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander. Picture: AAP / David Mariuz

Alma Krecu, whose father Ermanno Serpo died in 2016 after suffering five unwitnessed falls in his last week at Oakden, said it continued a pattern of families being “kept in the dark”.

“If you’re waiting for Bruce Lander’s report, that’s fine – but be upfront with us,” she said.

“Are we any better off than we were when (former chief psychiatrist) Aaron Groves released his report 10 months ago? I don’t think so.”

Clive Spriggs, the son of former Oakden patient Bob Spriggs, said his family just wanted answers about what had happened. “I’m hoping the ICAC inquiry ... will give us more answers but the more information the better so we can learn from our mistakes and move on,” he said.

Premier Jay Weatherill yesterday welcomed Mr Lander’s report but would not comment on whether he thought its contents would be embarrassing for the State Government.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Party said that, if elected, it would establish an investigative unit to protect vulnerable people, including the elderly and those with disabilities.

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said the Oakden “scandal has exposed just how vulnerable many South Australians are”.

– with ADAM LANGENBERG

and LAUREN NOVAK

Labor braces for backlash as landmark report set to hit home

Analysis - Daniel Wills

IT’S decision day on Oakden, after the horror of alleged abuse and neglect of residents at the aged care home was laid bare in a report from the chief psychiatrist almost a year ago.

It detailed shocking conditions at the site and raised unanswered questions on how such deplorable conditions could persist unchecked.

It said the culture of cover-up at Oakden, where some of the state’s most vulnerable people were supposed to receive care, was best described in the phrase “the fish rots from the head”. In the months since, the court of public opinion has come to some savage judgments.

Labor moved this month to strike former mental health minister Leesa Vlahos from the top of its Upper House ticket, on grounds that she would be a distraction to its re-election chances.

Having survived revelations she was warned of a potential “serious injury or death” at the site due to poor staffing levels, refuted at the time, Ms Vlahos held Premier Jay Weatherill’s support to continue as a minister while public confidence in her competence collapsed.

Today, Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander delivers his view.

His report is months overdue, and Mr Lander has already warned it was delayed amid difficulty obtaining documents and attempts from some people named to keep their identities secret.

The description of details behind those events alone could produce a political explosion.

Labor has issued something of a pre-emptive strike. On learning that the report would be released before the election, Mr Weatherill said he looked forward to outlining changes the Government had already delivered. That explicitly includes closing down the site and setting up a new facility. Implicitly, it means accepting, or maybe forcing, Ms Vlahos’ exit from politics and watching as former health minister Jack Snelling decided not to seek re-election. The biggest danger for Labor is that a savage ICAC report sends blame up the chain, or disrupts its re-election narrative. Polling day is 17 days away, and every one of them matters.

Today’s media coverage will be consumed by whatever the ICAC finds, good or bad. It will be a lengthy report that could dominate the public discussion for the rest of the week, and bleed into the campaign’s key final fortnight.

As Labor struggles generally from fallout of the controversial transforming health agenda, it doesn’t need public reminders of past failures.