‘Caught short’: Jeta Gardens boss’ stunning admission amid fury at deadly outbreak

The boss of an ill-prepared aged care facility at the centre of Queensland’s most deadly Covid outbreak has made a stunning admission amid fury from families who claim they were ‘lied to’.

Furious families have taken aim at Jeta Gardens – the aged care facility with Queensland’s highest Covid death toll – after it was warned more than a year ago that it was ill-prepared for a virus outbreak.

The Logan facility has also been accused of a high turnover of management and chronic staff shortages forcing 90 year olds to look after each other.

In a heated town hall meeting on Tuesday afternoon, residents’ relatives lashed out at Jeta Gardens, saying they had repeatedly been “lied to” and communication had deteriorated.

One forum participant said it took Jeta Gardens more than 14 days to inform him his mother had Covid.

Others wanted to know why it took media exposure for the facility to act.

Jeta Gardens CEO Wesley Carter said media reports had been “unexpected” and “distressing”.

“We were caught short and we are not shying away from that,” Mr Carter said.

Covid has claimed the lives of 15 Jeta Gardens’ residents during the current outbreak, among 151 Queensland aged care deaths from the virus.

Jeta Gardens Aged Care residents are removed from the nursing home at the centre of the state’s deadliest Covid-19 outbreak as it struggling to keep the virus under control. Photo: Annette Dew

A damning assessment by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission released on February 2 identified “an immediate and severe risk” to the safety, health or well-being of residents.

In a graph, it showed the steep decline from full compliance in March 2019 to the lowest rating of “inadequate” currently.

In January 2021 the commission found Jeta Gardens “had not minimised infection-related risks as it had not effectively planned or prepared for a potential outbreak of COVID-19”.

Another site inspection eight months later in August revealed the same personal and clinical care standards were still non-compliant.

“Families are fed up,” one woman, who declined to be named, told The Courier-Mail.

“A 93 year old nearly died in hospital due to dehydration,” she said.

Jeta Gardens is closed to all visitors. Picture: Liam Kidston

“I have personally witnessed one 90-year-old resident trying to care for another elderly resident, who was not able to stand up, because there were no care staff in sight.”

The woman said staff members were “doing their best in what has become an impossible situation”.

“For the past 12 months the home has been running on minimal staff - many times there would be just one person employed to care for a dozen high needs residents.

“The company clearly puts profits over the quality of care given to the residents.

“Some staff work 16 hours straight to cover for the lack of staff rostered on.”

In August 2020, families were advised of five resignations, including director of resident services Clarice Williams after 12 years.

In a letter, then newly appointed Jeta Gardens CEO Wesley Carter said he was also disappointed that four clinical managers had quit.

The aged care facility is 57 per cent owned by KPJ Healthcare Malaysia.

Mr Carter told the town hall meeting, moderated by Aged and Disability Advocates Australia, Jeta Gardens had been through a “challenging time” but was “committed to making change and moving forward”.

Staff in PPE in the midst of the deadly outbreak. Photo: Annette Dew

“Where we are at is not great, but we will get through this and have a much stronger system to cope with something we’ve never experienced before,” he said.

Mr Carter said a dedicated email and phone line had been established this week to provide a direct point of communication between families and Jeta Gardens’ staff.

Family Connect will respond to any COVID-19 related questions about family members every day from 9:30am – 2:30pm, seven days a week.

Resident services director Cheryl Targett said the facility was doing “constant recruitment”.

Ann Wunsch from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission told the town hall meeting the agency had placed an “immediate focus” on Jeta Gardens’ problem solving to rectify its critical issues and that it had mandated an onsite clinical advisor be appointed to oversee improvements.

She said the commission would “hold Jeta Gardens to account”.

In a media statement issued on February 8 Jeta Gardens said in addition to its Family Connect hotlines it had appointed a team of specialist clinical advisors on February 4 who had been working alongside its clinical management team.

“It is important to note that at no point has there been discussion with any authority of the prospect of the facility being closed and residents being evacuated. This has never been raised in any meeting or discussion with Aged Care, ACQSC, Queensland Health or the Public Health Unit.”

The statement said “health and wellbeing of the elders in our care at Jeta Gardens, along with our staff and the community at large, is our priority at all times”.

“There have been no new cases of COVID at Jeta Gardens since January 29, and we can confirm 99 per cent of our human resources have returned to work at full capacity, with only three staff currently furloughed, and the Surge Workforce that assisted us greatly last week, is no longer needed on site.

“Supported by the Federal Government, we have additional resources in place to ensure we are in the best position possible to prevent another outbreak and mitigate the risks of the current outbreak.”