Covid outbreak, neglect claims at Urraween nursing home

An aged care home dealing with a Covid tsunami is facing allegations of patient neglect, failure to follow Covid protocol and failure to inform families of what was going on.

A Hervey Bay aged care facility dealing with a Covid tsunami involving about 40 patients is facing additional claims of patient neglect, failure to inform families and failure to follow Covid protocols.

The allegations have been made by the daughter of a resident at Estia Health in Urraween, Hervey Bay, who has slammed the conditions her father has been living in as “unhygienic” and “upsetting”.

They also occur in the wake of concerns raised by Queensland Chief Health Officer earlier this month about the low number of Covid vaccination boosters being given to vulnerable Queenslanders living in aged care facilities.

The Hervey Bay whistleblower, who asked to remain anonymous, has claimed that ever since residents of Estia Health at Urraween were notified of the Covid outbreak on January 8, conditions had become so bad that a number of “nurses and care workers have walked out or resigned”.

This had left the facility short staffed, resulting in lapses of care including residents not being administered vital medications, buzzers being ignored and residents left unbathed and untended.

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Messages sent between a Estia Care Home resident and his daughter.

In one alleged case, an elderly man did not receive his medication until three hours after it was due despite repeatedly attempting to contact staff.

“He rang the bell over and over again, but the staff did not answer for over two hours,” his daughter said.

“There has been no communication from management whatsoever regarding the situation”.

This same man has also allegedly continued to be served chickens and eggs despite his family telling centre staff he could not consume them.

When he refused to eat it, he was given an alternative his daughter said was “disgusting” and inedible”.

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This alternative dish given to a resident who was allergic to chicken and eggs was described by his daughter as “disgusting”.

The situation allegedly became so dire on January 15 clinical nurses were flown up from Brisbane “to sort the place out”.

What started as one Covid case allegedly brought in by a visiting family member had exploded to 39 cases by January 14 due at least in part to what the woman described as an “ineffective” PPE policy.

PPE stands for Personal Protective Equipment which is used to prevent or minimise exposure to hazards such as Covid.

An alleged lack of adherence to hygiene protocol included used swabs, thermometer covers, and cotton buds being left in residents’ rooms.

Photos such as this inside Estia Care Home allegedly show the facility’s failure to follow PPE and Covid protocol.

“Residents who do not know how to, are being made to perform their RAT tests,” the woman said.

“One poor man had not been told how to put a mask on properly by staff, he had no idea what to do.”

She said the “the centre has only cleaned up their act because people have made complaints”.

A complaint had been made to the Age Care Quality and Safety Commission.

“I do not want anybody to experience what my family is going through.”

The situation comes off the back of Department of Health and Aged Care data revealing that as of January 4, 2024, just 26.7 per cent of aged care residents had received a booster shot in the past six months.

Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said he was “very concerned about the current booster vaccination rates among aged care residents as older Queenslanders have an increased risk of severe illness and complications from Covid-19”.

A Estia Health spokesperson said “Like many aged care facilities in Queensland and the wider community, our Hervey Bay home is experiencing increased cases of Covid among our residents and employees. We acknowledge that communication to families has been inconsistent during the outbreak , in part due to an issue with our communications app. We have addressed this and will communicate with families for the duration of the outbreak.”

The Age Care Quality and Safety Commision has been contacted for comment with a commission spokesperson say “we cannot confirm or deny that a complaint has been made”.