St Basil’s inquest halted by Covid outbreak

Health officials were told Prime Minister Scott Morrison expected residents at St Basil’s would be given private hospital access in the throes of the outbreak.

The St Basil’s Covid-19 crisis made its way to the highest levels of the Federal Government, as officials were told Prime Minister Scott Morrison expected residents to be given private hospital access in the throes of the outbreak.

Emails uncovered by the inquest into the deaths of 50 residents show that the night before a “shocking” decision to stand down all St Basil’s staff, Mr Morrison and Health Minister Greg Hunt anticipated residents could be sent to private hospitals.

“I may be asked about this at the morning briefing of the PM,” Aged Care Deputy Secretary Nick Harland wrote on the evening of July 21, 2020.

“Is there anything that I can say about the access of residents to private hospitals?

“I think PM and Minister Hunt will be expecting that this be offered.”

But Mr Hartland was told moving residents was “not the preferred approach”.

Forty infected residents were earmarked for hospital but that plan was delayed by two days after the nation’s top nurse Prof Alison McMillan was sent to St Basil’s on July 22 and reported it was “fit for purpose”.

Residents at St Basil's were eventually relocated. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Former Victorian deputy chief health officer Dr Simon Crouch gave evidence at the inquest on Thursday and was quizzed about a six-day testing delay of all St Basil’s staff and residents.

Dr Crouch agreed that St Basil’s management was told DHHS would “facilitate” testing of all staff and residents after the July 9 outbreak.

But this testing was taken over by the Commonwealth after it learned of the cluster in a meeting with DHHS on July 14 - that’s despite the Commonwealth’s coronavirus hotline being told about the index case by St Basil’s five days earlier.

The huge delay in testing was identified as a “root cause” of the crisis, with results returned eight days after both governments were informed about the outbreak.

Dr Crouch helped instruct chief health officer Prof Brett Sutton - who will give evidence on Friday - to stand down all St Basil’s staff as close contacts, despite an inadequate replacement workforce sourced by the Commonwealth.

But Prof Sutton was not advised about the Commonwealth’s fears the “surge” staff situation was getting “grimmer” when he signed off on the orders, which led to starvation and dehydration of residents.

Five residents died of neglect, while 45 died of Covid-19 in July and August 2020.

Dr Crouch was questioned about whether the ability to source replacement workers factored into the Victorian officials’ decision to stand down permanent staff.

He said that surge staff “was not ever something that was my responsibility”.

“I was vaguely aware there had been challenges in some (aged care) facilities,” he said.

“Whether or not they could source staff I wouldn’t have been able to comment on.”

INQUEST HALTED BY COVID OUTBREAK

A Covid-19 outbreak derailed the coronial inquest into the deaths of 50 St Basil’s residents.

Victorian government official Dr Simon Crouch is giving evidence to the inquest over the management of the cluster in July and August 2020.

But he notified the Coroner’s Court of an outbreak at his son’s school as he stood in the court precinct on Thursday morning.

The inquest is looking into the deadly Covid outbreak at St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Fawkner. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Counsel assisting Peter Rozen QC told the court there had been 16 positive cases at Dr Crouch’s son’s school, with his son testing negative at the weekend.

The inquest broke for an early lunch to allow Dr Crouch, the former deputy chief health officer, to return a negative rapid test.

The court was previously told his evidence was required to be heard before that of chief health officer Prof Brett Sutton, who is set to take the stand on Friday.