North Turramurra: Southern Cross Care aged care home ordered to address key compliance failures

The aged care watchdog has taken action against a Sydney aged care home which failed key compliance standards, including the clinical and personal care of its residents.

The facility is one of the largest aged care homes in Sydney’s north.

A shocking report card has laid bare a string of compliance failures at one of the north shore’s largest aged care homes.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has found Southern Cross Care North Turramurra Residential Aged Care was failing to maintain four compliance standards after an inspection of the 113-room facility in September.

The audit report revealed the facility was unable to consistently demonstrate residents were receiving safe and effective personal or clinical care that was tailored to their needs or in accordance with best practice.

An inspection of the psychotropic register showed several residents were noted to be prescribed with medications that were not recognised as a treatment for their respective diagnoses.

The register also contained gaps including missing information and review dates that had not been updated.

An inspection of the home was carried out in September.

Staffing shortages was a key area of concern with employees telling Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission inspectors that “there are a lot of new staff and this makes work harder because they don’t know the (residents)”.

Call bell data from the home reviewed on the day of the audit showed a large number of call bells exceeded 10 minute response times with about 50 calls assessed by inspectors not responded to for at least one hour.

A photo of the home.

The audit found pain assessments of residents were not routinely undertaken or documented including for residents who had experienced falls.

The facility did not adequately respond to deterioration or changes in the mental health of residents in a timely manner.

Residents in pain were also not always assessed according to the service’s policies and procedures.

The audit identified care plans and assessments of some residents were incomplete or not completed at all.

A family member of one resident told inspectors there was a large amount of incorrect information in the resident’s care plan which was not reflecting their current needs, including behavioural and pain management.

Other compliance concerns included failing to demonstrate the needs, goals and preferences of all consumers nearing end-of-life were recognised and addressed.

The home – which has been operating for more than 55 years – is advertised at offering residents “the reassurance of around-the clock care” from a “highly-experienced care team”

In a written response to the audit, Southern Cross Care North Turramurra said it had provided staff with “additional education” and training and had developed an continuous improvement plan that included reviewing resident care plans to identify gaps.

The facility stated gaps identified in the psychotropic register were due to the register being updated monthly and “this was now in order”.

The compliance issues identified in the audit means the home will now have to demonstrate it is able to lift its standards including demonstrating that each resident is provided with safe and effective personal care and clinical care.

In a statement, a Southern Cross Care spokeswoman said “the safety and wellbeing of our residents is our highest priority”.

“Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT has reassured the commission that the findings for North Turramurra were largely due to challenges with the attraction and retention of key management personnel,” she said.

“Our robust continuous improvement plan, which we consistently advance, has included facility leadership changes. We are confident our plan will satisfy the Commission and is improving the experiences of residents and providing peace of mind to their families.

“We were pleased to note the Commission reaccredited our North Turramurra Residential Aged Care home until 1 July 2024. Of the 17 audits of Southern Cross Care residential aged care homes conducted by the Commission over the past 12 months, all have been reaccredited for three years.

“The aged care sector as a whole faces ongoing challenges with accessing a trained workforce. Our ongoing recruitment efforts have resulted in additional registered nurses (RNs) and care staff.”