Wide Bay/Burnett nursing home among audit's alarming finds

ELDERLY residents have been bashed, underfed, neglected and left in pain in Queensland nursing homes over the past year, alarming government audits reveal.

Staff shortages in some centres left residents bedridden in pain, with festering sores, refused access to doctors or drugged with the wrong medications. Picture: Bev Lacey

ELDERLY residents have been bashed, underfed, neglected and left in pain in Queensland nursing homes over the past year, alarming government audits reveal.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) has ruled that residents were at "serious risk” in 16 Queensland nursing homes which failed quality audits during 2018/19.

The NewsMail understands one of the homes is in the Wide Bay/Burnett region.

Staff shortages in some centres left residents bedridden in pain, with festering sores, refused access to doctors or drugged with the wrong medications.

An investigation by The Courier Mail reveals that one in every 30 nursing homes in Queensland placed the health, safety or wellbeing of residents at "serious risk” of harm in the past year.

The ACQSC is refusing to reveal how many of Queensland's 480 aged care homes failed quality audits last year, but The Courier Mail used the ACQSC database to identify 16 of the worst breaches that were deemed to be a "serious risk” to residents.

The ACQSC also refused to say whether problems had been rectified.

State Health Minister Stephen Miles yesterday demanded that the Federal Government mandate the number of nurses required to care for patients in aged care.

"The Commonwealth is responsible for regulating and funding aged care but for too long they have let private companies run riot, standing idly by while they cut their staff and services in the pursuit of greater profit,'' he said yesterday.

Federal Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said that "ensuring the safety and care of aged care residents is my highest priority''. "Any providers failing to comply with the Aged Care Quality Standards are required to rectify the situation and are encouraged to do so as quickly as possible,'' he said yesterday.

The Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union yesterday condemned ACQSC's failure to alert the public when nursing homes flunk audits.

Premier's aged-care vow: P12