Families speak out for aged care reform after nursing home deaths

The deaths of 16 people at a southside nursing home and a granny left to rot in a bed, have thrown the national spotlight on aged care, now a concerning election issue. WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

Queensland families have spoken out about the horrors they faced when their loved ones were admitted to private aged care facilities.

A grandmother left to rot in bed, a mother who died in hospital after staff refused resuscitation, residents dying in agony after not getting painkillers and families complaining of being ripped off paying for medical services never delivered.

WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES

The claims of substandard care, unsafe practices and overworked and underpaid staff, were included in hundreds of Queensland submissions to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

Ormiston hair stylist Alana Hewett said her grandmother, who lived at the up-market Regis Birkdale, died a painful death in a pool of her own bodily fluids after sepsis rotted her leg to the bone.

Norma Palmer, left, before moving to Regis with her daughter Leanne Hewett and her granddaughter Alana Hewett.

Gruesome photographs of grandmother Norma Palmer revealed a bleeding wound on her leg exposing her ankle bone and the skin on her back was red raw.

Norma Palmer’s horrific lower leg injury.

Norma Palmer’s back was red and bleeding.

She was rushed to hospital in July, 2020 and died three days later.

Coroner Don Buchanan found it was a health care-related death reportable under the Coroner’s Act and he called for Regis Birkdale to conduct a clinical review of its practices along with the general practitioner who was overseeing Mrs Palmer’s wound treatment.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission said Regis Birkdale acknowledged they did not consistently provide a satisfactory level of care to Mrs Palmer and a preliminary internal investigation found “significant gaps” in pain management and wound care.

Ms Hewett said the 148 wide-ranging Royal Commission recommendations, including establishing an aged care pricing authority and a federal Department of Health and Aged Care, would go part of the way to reforming the system.

Norma Palmer with one of her grandchildren.

“There is a lot of work to do to make sure this never happens to anyone else,” Ms Hewett said.

“We paid extra for physiotherapy and for healthy meals, which cost an additional $12.50 a day but we were never really sure if, or when, she received them.

“Jewellery and other items had gone missing from her room.

“A federal Department of Health and Aged Care will give families a point of contact if problems arise.

“But the reforms should also include keeping these facilities accountable all the time, which entails regular audits and reports that remain public and on the record for all to see.”

Regis Birkdale, where Norma Palmer spent the last nine months of her life.

Regis Birkdale has since established a Continuous Improvement Plan to address those flaws, all now rectified, and the facility found compliant in December 2020.

The family of Jeta Gardens resident Ruth Symes, one of 16 at the nursing home to die of Covid-19 last month, said the aged care system was broken.

Ruth Symes with her son Adam Symes and with her family on a day out from Jeta Gardens.

Daughter-in-law Carol Willcox said better regulations for containing contagious diseases and for communication between staff and families would save lives.

“We were never told Ruth had tested positive for the virus until she was in the last stages of life and until then she had been allowed to leave her room and go to the lounge,” Ms Willcox said.

“Jeta Gardens puts ladybird stickers on residents’ doors to notify everyone including staff that the person has Covid but staff from other facilities did not know the significance.

“We did not even know whether Ruth had been vaccinated before she died.

“The staff are not the problem, the lack of staff is a problem.”

Jeta Gardens resident Ruth Symes, right, her family Carol Willcox and grandson Tate Symes had to wear PPE to see her when she was dying.

Jeta Gardens was subjected to regulatory reforms last month and an advisory team appointed to instigate reforms at the centre.

A Jeta Gardens spokesman said management would hold regular meetings with the commission to ensure it reached full compliance with eight quality standards.

“Moving forward, our priority is to ensure the non-compliance issues as identified are not only addressed but exceeded,” the spokesperson said.