Maggots, and no showers. More nursing home horrors.
MAGGOTS in head wounds, dementia patients not being showered, and incontinence aids not being changed are among a litany of horror stories emerging from the same aged care home where two elderly residents were murdered by a nurse.
NSW
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MAGGOTS in head wounds, dementia patients not being showered, and incontinence aids not being changed are among a litany of horror stories emerging from a North Coast nursing home.
Whistleblowers have come forward with shocking stories about St Andrews Village nursing home in Ballina — where nurse Megan Haines murdered two elderly women Marie Darragh, 82, and Isabella Spencer, 77, by giving them both lethal injections of insulin in 2014.
The whistleblowers, who asked not to be named because they had been threatened with legal action if they spoke to the media, said the nursing home had recently released all casual staff and made about 10 permanent staff redundant.
One said she had complained to management when she discovered maggots in the cancerous head wound of one resident because it was not dressed properly.
She claimed she lost her job for complaining.
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“They are not showering the dementia patients and incontinence aids aren't being changed and bed linen is not being changed,” the woman told The Sunday Telegraph.
“There are some very good nurses there but they are stretched to the limit, that makes it hard to do their job.”
A woman who did not want to be named because she feared a backlash against her elderly mother who was a resident at the home, said she knew her mother was not being bathed because she checked her underwear and the shower recess each day.
“She has the same singlet on every day,” the woman said.
“I go in there at 7am and she is dressed but she has not had a shower. I check the shower recess and it is always dry.
“I went in this morning and mum had an overflowing incontinence aid. There is agency staff there now and they don’t even know who is in charge,” she said.
“They changed the process and are using hygiene wipes instead of showers but I have demanded my mother be showered every two days.”
Nursing ratios had gone from one nurses to five residents to one nurse to 10 residents, the whistleblowers said.
A spokesman for St Andrews said the nursing home recently underwent a successful accreditation review by the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency and that staff lay-offs and changes were in line with “the new Aged Care Standards” due to apply in 2019.
“St Andrews is responding to the new changes and are currently aligning its business and care model to not only comply with the standards but to also continue to improve both financial and clinical outcomes,” the spokesman said.
“This will ensure St Andrews has a sustainable future delivering best quality care for the residents.
“St Andrews has recently implemented organisational and operational changes as part of its commitment to continuous quality improvement and implementing best practice.”
He declined to answer specific questions about staff cuts and issues raised by The Sunday Telegraph.
The Sunday Telegraph last week revealed staff at Coffs Harbour nursing home St Augustine’s had used onions and kitty litter to disguise the stench of dying resident Colin Taylor.