Earle Haven nursing home: Paramedic tells public hearing of ‘chaos’ at crisis-hit nursing home 

Public hearings into the shock closure of a Gold Coast nursing home has been told how the incident could have been avoided.

THE dramatic evacuation of dozens of elderly and frail nursing home residents from a Gold Coast aged care centre could have been stopped if the owner had paid the care provider, a hearing has been told.

A financial dispute between the centre’s management HelpStreet and the owner Arthur Miller was believed to have been at the root of the complete breakdown of operations at Earle Haven in July.

Appearing as a witness in a state government inquiry in to the Earle Haven debacle, former nurse administrator Karen Heard said she had a conversation on the day of the evacuation with HelpStreet’s chief financial officer Kris Bunker who asked if she could speak to Mr Miller.

“He asked me to tell him that if he was prepared to transfer funds over this could all stop,” she said.

She said she relayed the message to Mr Miller but he ‘declined’ to accept the offer.

Ms Heard was asked how she responded to Mr Bunker’s request.

“I said this has now gone too far,” she said.

She said she didn’t believe it would make any difference by that time whether the financial dispute was resolved then or not.

“Getting the money now or later is not going to make any difference with what has occurred.”

Ms Heard broke down in tears when telling why she disagreed with the decision to evacuate the centre.

“These were people with dementia who were dying,” she said.

“To transfer 70 people out of their home.....was very risky.

“I would never put anyone’s life at risk.”

EARLIER:

THE strife-torn Earle Haven nursing home was the subject of multiple allegations of elder abuse in the months before the shock evacuation of dozens of residents in July.

Giving evidence at a public hearing in to the debacle surrounding the Nerang retirement home, former clinical care co-ordinator Telecia Tuccori confirmed there had been allegations of elder abuse leveled against three staff at the centre.

The complaints had been made by other staff members and included at least one allegation of unreasonable use of force.

The allegations were referred to police and the staff were stood down.

“We had a zero tolerance,” she said.

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TELEPHONES, fridges, dishwashers and even a doona cover from a man lying in bed were among the stock stripped from the Earle Haven nursing home on the day of the shock evacuation of dozens of residents.

Giving evidence at a public hearing in to the shock closure, Gold Coast Health Service executives described scenes of ‘absolute chaos’.

Gold Coast Health executive Karlen Willcocks, herself a former aged care nurse, said a fridge was carried past her as she she stood in a hallway, while an elderly resident told of how a woman ripped the doona off his bed as he lay in his room.

Mattresses and sheets were stripped from more than a dozen beds, while even telephones had been taken away by the time senior Gold Coast health officials arrived.

Medical records were also in a state of disarray along with medicine and food supplies.

Telecia Tuccori, former clinical manager at HelpStreet, at the Queensland parliamentary committee investigation hearing into the closure of the Earle Haven residential aged care facility. Picture: Darren England/AAP

UPDATE 11AM:

AN employee of the controversial Earle Haven retirement home told senior ambulance officers her co-workers ‘wanted to punch her head in’ for handing over patient medical records.

Responding to questions from Caloundra MP Mark McCardle, QAS operations manager Cary Strong told a public hearing on the Gold Coast that a young woman tasked with handing over medical records for many of the centre’s residents on the day of the shock closure suggested she had been threatened by other workers.

“She said ‘other staff wanted to punch my head in for giving you these folders’,” he said.

Mr Strong also told the hearing several staff who remained on the grounds during the evacuation of residents seemed more concerned over wages and money than helping the vulnerable elderly.

“Their overwhelming concern was money?” asked Mr McCardle.

“That was the basic of the whole argument,” replied Mr Strong.

“It just seemed to go round and round in circles.”

Earle Haven in Nerang which has suddenly shut its doors. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

UPDATE, 10.45AM:

THE chair of a parliamentary committee investigating the sudden closure of a Gold Coast nursing home has likened the ambulance response to the Cardwell tilt train disaster over a decade ago.

Thuringowa MP Aaron Harper, himself a former ambulance officer, told the hearings and senior Queensland Ambulance Service officer Cary Strong that the QAS response to the Triple 0 alarm about the Earle Haven closure was to be commended.

He compared the high-pressure response to attending the 2008 Cardwell tilt train disaster in which two people died.

Arthur Miller, who is the owner of aged care provider People Care which owns the Earle Haven nursing home. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

“This takes me back to responding to the Cardwell tilt train,” he said.

“The response from QAS should be commended.

“This was a significant response.”

The hearing was also told Earle Haven owner Arthur Miller did “virtually nothing” to help on the day the centre closed down, forcing the evacuation of almost 70 elderly residents.

Mr Miller was due to have appeared to give evidence this week, but has been excused for medical reasons.

After hearing evidence from Mr Strong, Caloundra MP Mark McCardle asked:

“(It appears) Mr Miller did virtually nothing to assist....or is that too strong?”

Mr Strong replied: “It’s very strong but I don’t think you would be far off.”

EARLIER: Beds stripped to the frames, patients wandering the hallways with urinary bags dragging along the ground.

A veteran ambulance officer has described the chaotic scenes that greeted him when he arrived at a Gold Coast nursing home which was plunged in to administration forcing the evacuation of dozens of elderly residents.

Giving evidence at a public hearing in to the Earle Haven residential aged care centre at Nerang, Queensland Ambulance Service operational supervisor Cary Strong said the nursing home was a scene of ‘confusion’ and ‘panic’ when he arrived following a Triple 0 call on the afternoon of July 11.

Earle Haven in Nerang which suddenly shut its doors. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

After noticing removal trucks in the driveway, Mr Strong moved inside the centre to find beds stripped of sheets and even mattresses in some rooms.

“There was an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair with his urinary bag dragging along the ground as he was trying to wheel himself down the corridor,” he said.

He also observed an elderly dementia patient growing increasingly agitated as confusion reigned.

Most staff had already walked away, leaving only about five staffers volunteering to care for dozens of residents.

Mr Strong told the hearing at Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast that the centre’s owner Arthur Miller told him the ambulance officers could leave ‘and we would resolve this’.

However, Mr Strong said he had no intention of leaving.

“Not in that state with the residents vulnerable,” he said.

Instead, the QAS then launched a Mass Casualty Action Plan to start relocating 69 residents from the centre to other nursing homes and hospitals across the Gold Coast.

The hearing continues.