Catholic Healthcare St Paul’s Northbridge found non-compliant with quality standards

A north shore aged care home has been found non-compliant with a list of quality standards with inspectors raising concerns with staff shortages and out of date medication.

Staff shortages and out of date medication given to residents are among a list of compliance failures uncovered at a north shore aged care home.

Catholic Healthcare St Paul’s in Northbridge has been found non-compliant with five aged care quality standards including support for daily living, human resources and personal and clinical care following an audit of the Eastern Valley Way facility from May 19 to May 27 this year.

The audit was carried out by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission which identified deficiencies including practices for medication management including two residents who were administered expired medications.

The home caters for 40 residents.

Staff shortages was another area of concern with inspectors finding night shifts were not always being filled and registered nurses were unable to mentor and supervise agency staff due to time constraints.

Feedback from residents and family members said the stretched resources had resulted in residents sometimes having to wait long periods to be supported to use the toilet, were left sitting at dining tables after lunch for over an hour without staff attending to them, and were put to bed earlier than their wishes.

Inspectors found further gaps in the assessment and planning for several residents, including lack of consideration of risks to health and wellbeing.

The home was inspected earlier this year. Photo: stock.

A review of one resident’s care plan showed some risk assessments were not completed despite the resident being physically aggressive towards staff and verbally resistant to care.

Another resident’s care plan showed inconsistencies in the assessment of risk of falls, and there was no assessment to manage risks for another resident who had experienced a choking episode.

Areas of noncompliance with services and support for daily living included broken paving outside the home, poor waste management practices such as overflowing bins and some clinical waste bins that were found unlocked.

There were also concerns over infection control, with documentation regarding an infection outbreak at the home failing to demonstrate effective recognition and monitoring to identify symptoms and minimise transmission.

The home is located on Eastern Valley Way.

One family member told inspectors that staff were not always aware of residents’ needs regarding mobility and toileting, while another raised concerns that physiotherapy services were not supporting a resident’s independence and quality of life.

In their response to the inspection, the Catholic Healthcare said various changes have been made following the audit including adding additional shifts and leadership, improved maintenance, cleaning audits, training, and steps to minimise the risks relating to the behaviour of residents.

In a statement, Catholic Healthcare said it acknowledged the commission’s findings, noting that the audit is a point in time assessment which was completed in May.

“The health, safety and wellbeing of residents is our highest priority. We are deeply committed to delivering the highest standards of care for residents who we have the privilege to serve,” a spokeswoman said.

“A comprehensive range of initiatives have been implemented at St Paul’s Northbridge covering workforce; training and education; identifying and managing risks; the review of resident care plans; personalised lifestyle activities and maintenance.

“St Paul’s Northbridge Healthcare has hired new care staff, increased hours, introduced new shifts, added a weekend Manager role and a Quality Education Manager on site.”

The audit is part of checks by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission which assesses aged care providers against eight quality benchmarks

The standards are designed to make it easier to check that residents of aged care facilities receive “good care” and outline what “a good aged care should look like”.

The facility is one of 93 aged care facilities in NSW to have been found non-compliant with aged care quality standards since July 1 this year.