Jonathan Rogers GC House Nowra fails quality standards inspection in aged care watchdog audit

A south coast aged care home has been told to implement 30 changes after failing to meet key quality standards including the personal and clinical care of its residents.

A south coast aged care home has been told to implement 30 changes after failing to meet key quality standards including the personal and clinical care of its residents.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has found Jonathan Rogers GC House in Nowra failed to meet all eight compliance standards it uses to assess aged care homes including consumer dignity and choice, organisational governance, and services and support for daily living.

The findings came after the commission carried out a six-day inspection of the facility in November last year.

An audit report identified staff shortages were a key concern with shift handovers between registered nurses and care staff not always ensuring required information was transferred.

A photo of the aged care facility.

The audit report also showed the facility did not always deliver pain management medication in a timely manner, and pain charts showed ongoing pain monitoring was not always completed.

Residents told inspectors there had been instances of inadequate personal hygiene care and staff practices relating to continence care which they said was negatively impacting their dignity,

The inspectors heard there had been instances of a resident calling out in pain for three to four days after suffering a fall before they were sent to hospital.

The facility was inspected by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

The audit further found the facility did not always ensure the end of life needs of residents.

Other areas of noncompliance included psychological and emotional support not being consistently provided for residents who needed them, and bed bound residents given limited opportunities and support to participate in activities of interest,

Some residents raised further concerns with food options including meals not being well presented, food “not being tasty”, and meals that contained “tough meat”.

As part of the inspection, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has listed 30 requirements for the home to implement to meet compliance standards, including ensuring staff practices and workforce planning are effective.

In a written response to the audit, Jonathan Rogers GC House said it has taken steps to address issues identified by the commission.

This includes the development of a revised plan for continuous improvement with actions relating to staff training, education, improved handover processes, increased clinical oversight and increased communication with medical officers.

RSL LifeCare, which operates the facility, in a statement said the company “is committed to providing high quality care to enrich the lives of veterans and seniors who reside in our proud communities.”

“We have been working closely with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, residents and their families, and they are aware and supportive of the progress that has been made to address the audit findings,” a spokeswoman said.

”We share the community’s concern about industry workforce shortages. Attracting and retaining staff has been one of the most significant challenges facing the sector and we are hopeful that aged care industry reforms will continue to recognise the important work of our frontline staff.

“We value our dedicated aged care teams and remain committed to continuous improvement of our facilities and services to ensure exceptional care is provided to residents.”.

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”.