Damning audit into Blue Care Mackay Homefield

The death of one resident is under review and others have been left to soil themselves and frequently fall amid a lack of staff and training, a damning audit of a Queensland aged care home has revealed.

Residents left in soiled clothing, repeated falls and untrained staff are among the horror revelations of a damning report into a regional aged care facility.

Residents left in soiled clothing, repeated falls and untrained staff are among the horror revelations of a damning report into a Mackay aged care facility where the death of at least one resident is under review.

Blue Care Mackay Homefield failed six of the eight performance standards in relation to aged care quality including dignity and choice, high impact risks, and feedback and complaints and has now stopped taking on any new residents.

Investigations into the death of a resident who suffered repeated falls at the aged care home are ongoing.

The damning report, which stems from Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission audit in May, stated three residents at Blue Care Mackay Homefield “experienced humiliation and embarrassment relating to their continence care”.

The residents were told “to use their continence aid instead of going to the toilet, lengthy delays in a soiled continence aid and delays in toileting assistance causing incontinence”.

Blue Care Mackay Homefield failed six of the eight performance standards in relation to aged care quality in a performance audit by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Picture: Janessa Ekert

“Staff confirmed there were delays in providing care due to lack of staff,” the report stated.

The audit also raised concerns about the effective management of high impact or high prevalence risks related to falls.

One resident suffered 13 falls between February and April 2023, and another suffered four falls between January and May 2023.

The audit revealed one of these two had since died and the circumstances leading up to the death were being analysed.

“Approaches to reduce falls and develop individualised strategies were not implemented in a timely manner, and consumers continued to sustain falls and injuries,” the report found.

“The risk management system used by the service was not effective in monitoring or informing risk patterns and did not consistently contain documentations around risk mitigation for future falls risk.”

The report also found the mix of staff at the centre “did not deliver safe and quality care and services”.

“Training records confirmed 30 per cent of the workforce were not current with mandatory training,” the report found.

“The service did not demonstrate regular assessment, monitoring and review of performance of any member of the workforce.”

Blue Care Mackay Homefield failed six of the eight performance standards in relation to aged care quality in a performance audit by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Picture: Janessa Ekert

Concerns were raised around staff competency relating to medication administration, staff did not demonstrate a shared understanding of restrictive practices and incident reporting and a supervisor admitted they did not feel properly trained for the role, the audit found.

“The service did not demonstrate how it appropriately responded to abuse and neglect of consumers, and management could not explain how incidents were monitored or prevented.”

Blue Care was found to be compliant in services and supports for daily living and the organisation’s service environment.

The report found the organisation has acted on the audit addressing the concerns and issues raised, but it was still too early to tell if the response would be effective.

As a result the aged care centre has suspended any new residents entering the facility “until they are confident that care and support needs for all current consumers are being met”.

This publication contacted Blue Care for comment.