Bupa Bellarine Lakes apologises to residents

It’s understood at least one resident has been removed from a Moolap aged care home due to serious concerns.

Concerns have been raised about care at Bupa Bellarine Lakes.

A Moolap aged care home has apologised to residents following complaints about the service.

The Addy understands at least one resident has been removed from Bupa Bellarine Lakes by loved ones due to serious concerns about care.

Following a meeting with residents and relatives on February 1, the facility’s acting general manager sent a memo which has been obtained by the Geelong Advertiser.

A Bupa spokeswoman said following some complaints, the Bellarine Lakes team sat down with residents and families to discuss these, apologise and agree to an action plan to resolve those issues.

Bupa did not specify the nature of the issues to the Addy.

The memo said: “We would like to firstly apologise again to all residents and families for not providing the level of service to our residents and home.”

“We acknowledge concerns raised at the meeting and reassure residents/families that we have support to the home to rectify and improve the overall service of the home and sustain positive outcomes,” it read.

The spokeswoman said in recent weeks, the Bellarine Lakes team made a number of changes, including welcoming new team members, changing processes, forming an additional resident subcommittee and providing more regular updates to residents and families.

Bupa Bellarine Lakes received an overall star rating — a federal government system for residential aged care across Australia — of three stars, meaning acceptable, which was most recently updated in January.

However it only received one star — meaning significant improvement needed — for the staffing category.

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson. Picture: Britta Campion / The Australian

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson said the watchdog was aware of some concerns raised about Bupa Bellarine Lakes.

“We do not comment on specific complaint matters,” she said.

“Under the Aged Care Quality Standards, aged care providers are expected to seek input and feedback from consumers, carers, staff and others, and to use the input and feedback to inform continuous improvements for individual consumers and the whole organisation.

“If Bupa Bellarine Lakes has recently met with residents and relatives, that suggests that the service not only understands its obligations but also appreciates the value of this form of engagement.”

Ms Anderson said the facility’s accreditation expired in June 2024 and it would undergo a comprehensive re-accreditation audit before then.

“Comprehensive re-accreditation audits are not the only way the commission monitors and assesses aged care services,” Ms Anderson said.

“We use a range of information and evidence to identify risk, including complaints and information that the service is required to report.”

Ms Anderson said anyone with a concern about an aged care service should contact the commission on 1800 951 822 or visit www.agedcarequality.gov.au.

Do you know more? Email [e-mail]

Originally published as Bupa Bellarine Lakes apologises to residents