Closure of regional Queensland nursing home forces residents to move

Exclusive: The council-run nursing home on the Western Downs will be closed following a prolonged staffing crisis, forcing residents out of their hometowns and away from their loved ones.

CLOSED: The Western Downs Regional Council has made the decision to close the Tarcoola Aged Care Facility in Tara. Pic: Supplied

Close to 30 vulnerable elderly residents at a Tara nursing home on the Western Downs will be forced to relocate after the council made the decision to close the vital facility on “clinical and legal advice”.

Some of the residents have been cared for at the council-run Tarcoola Aged Care Facility for more than a decade and will now be forced to leave the place they call home, along with their support networks.

CLOSED: The Western Downs Regional Council has made the decision to close the Tarcoola Aged Care Facility in Tara. Pic: Supplied

Western Downs Mayor Paul McVeigh said the facility had had an unacceptable level of clinical staff for an extended period of time.

“As operators, council must have absolute confidence its aged care facilities are operating safely and the legislative and ethical standards of care are being met,” he said.

“(The council made) extensive efforts to attract and retain suitably qualified and experienced clinical care staff at the facility, and several attempts to gain assistance from both the State and Federal Governments, clinical staffing levels remain at a critical level.”

Although, serious safety issues at the home first came to light on February 26, when the council sent a letter to residents’ families detailing multiple failings.

“Council has recently identified systemic safety and quality issues at Tarcoola… which are of significant concern to council as the owner and operator,” the letter read.

Mr McVeigh said it was an extremely difficult decision for the council to make.

“Council cannot continue to provide residential aged care through its Tarcoola facility in circumstances where it cannot unconditionally guarantee sustained quality care through the presence of consistent and appropriately qualified clinical staff,” he said.

“Based on clinical and legal advice, council has been forced to proceed with a closure.”

SAVE TARCOOLA: Tara GP Dr Tim Lloyd-Morgan said it would be devastating to see residents moved on as they are a community within themselves, “they are friends, some of them have been there for over 10 years – it’s their home,” he said. Pic: Hayden Smith

In the lead up to the closure, Tara GP Dr Tim Lloyd-Morgan said once closed, it was unlikely the facility would ever open again.

“It would have a significant impact because once you lose a facility like that it’s very difficult to get it back,” he said.

“There are some keys to the fabric of a small community, the hospital, schools, library – and of course the nursing home is one of them.”

“It’s desperately important that we sustain these facilities. Elderly people have an absolute right to see their retirement days in their own community where they are looked after by people who have very likely known them and their families.”

The Mayor said the closure would be staged and methodical, and the facility would continue to operate until every resident was relocated to alternative accommodation.

“Council has engaged an experienced transition management consultant to oversee the process and give residents the best chance of relocating as close as possible to family support,” he said.

“Council is also working with affected staff to ensure they are supported throughout the transition process.”

MAYOR: Mayor Paul McVeigh said the council was doing everything it could to attract and retain quality health services staff in the region. Pic: AAP Dan Peled

In February, the council requested the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to conduct an immediate audit at Tarcoola which resulted in the ACQS re-accrediting the facility, citing ‘exceptional circumstances’ around Covid-19.

After being re-accredited in March, another audit was carried out in April where the ACQS again re-accrediting the facility until April 2024.

The council owns and operates the understaffed Carinya Aged Care Facility in Miles, although it will continue to operate.