‘I sit there and think I’ve failed you’: Tony Hurle’s fight against aged care failures following mother’s death

Tony Hurle from Toowoomba charity Tony’s Kitchen says two years on from his mother’s passing he still cries regularly thinking about how she was treated at the end of her life. He is now calling for a serious look into aged care failings.

Tony Hurle's mother passed away without proper care.

Sitting by his mother’s grave, Tony Hurle tearfully remembers the harrowing experience of her final days in a nursing home, where alleged neglect and understaffing contributed to her suffering.

In 2023 Tony Hurle’s mother was diagnosed with cancer and by April of 2024 had passed away aged 76.

Mr Hurle said gross failures at his mother’s nursing home, including alleged missed medication checks and bathing times as well as a lack of communication with families had only increased his pain.

For a half a decade Tony has run Tony’s Kitchen, a Toowoomba homelessness charity that feeds up to 900 people a week and while he has been doing his part to bring comfort to others, behind closed doors he has been racked with feelings of pain and guilt over the loss of his mother.

“I sit there and think I’ve failed you,” he said.

“When your parents get older you always say to them we will never put you in a place like that, we will look after you and we put her in there because she could no longer be at home and they failed her.

“I cry myself to sleep sometimes, when you lose your mother it is a different kind of grief.”

Tony’s comments come after April and June data collected through Aged Care Watch, a portal which allows staff, residents and families to submit reports on their experiences, showed serious failings in the aged care sector.

The exclusive report revealed more than eight out of 10 workers who rated the staffing levels in their own residential facilities gave just one or two stars out of five.

The average rating from 1000 workers was 1.8 stars.

The report also found 610 respondents indicated residents were not receiving their minimum level of care time while only 202 workers said they did.

Mr Hurle described his mother as a “happy go lucky and community-minded person” and said it was devastating to see the way she had passed.

“Mum was non-verbal in her first bout of cancer, she had her voice box removed, she couldn’t yell or communicate and had to talk through a trachea which was a barrier to start with,” he said.

“Within three months of that operation they found another lump and said she would be dead within six months, mum was going to pass away but it was the way she passed away.

“I believe she died of a broken heart because she didn’t have the right care given to her when she deserved it.”

Mr Hurle said he had seen first-hand the lack of care his mother had received in her most vulnerable time.

“I was there for 11 days after she was admitted and I saw the failings of the system, proper medication checks weren’t being conducted, bathing of the residents wasn’t being conducted as it should, I would go in at breakfast and come back at lunch and the breakfast tray is still sitting there and no one had checked on her,” he said.

“There were 44 people in one nursing home with only four or five staff.

“She should’ve had a bed censor put on her bed she had three falls including one where she cracked a bone in her lower back, she was being fed pain medication and once they put the morphine in there’s no going back, she only lasted a couple of weeks and she passed away at 11pm one Wednesday evening alone.

“They told us they went to do a room check and she had passed away by herself, it was horrific I don’t wish anyone to have those same dramas she had in her last years.”

Tony Hurle alleged his mother passed away without proper care.

Mr Hurle said he had waited eight months to get a meeting with the Aged Care Minister about his mum’s care after lodging two complaints with the aged care commission.

“Mum being palliative, family should have been with her 24 hours a day and we weren't given that option, when she fell over for the third time the family should have been told straight away rather than finding out she was in hospital when we got to the nursing home,” he said.

“We need to have more staff better trained to equip end of life patients, we had one nurse who was dealing with the whole of South West Queensland she was run off her feet.

“No one should have to live through their family being mistreated in aged care.

“They are just treated as a number in the system.”

South West Hospital and Health Service nursing director of aged care Catherine Ole said they were committed to ensuring the safety and comfort of their residents.

“The South West Hospital and Health Service is committed to providing safe, effective and high-quality residential aged care services to our communities through our aged care facilities and our multipurpose health services,” she said.

“At our aged care facilities we always foster open and transparent communication with our residents and their families.

“Where concerns are raised about care services, either by residents or their family members, these are investigated immediately and action taken as required.

“We offer support throughout the process to those involved or impacted by the concerns and communicate fully the results of any review and any subsequent action taken.

“While the South West Hospital and Health Service cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy and confidentiality considerations, we always remain ready to engage with and support all our consumers and their families.

“We value consumer feedback and opportunities to review and improve our care quality and safety.

“The purpose of our health service is to provide safe, effective, responsible, and sustainable rural and remote health services that people trust and value.”

Originally published as ‘I sit there and think I’ve failed you’: Tony Hurle’s fight against aged care failures following mother’s death