Watchdog found infection control issues at Werribee aged care home before COVID-19 outbreak
An aged-care home in Melbourne’s west, where 25 residents have contracted COVID-19, was told to lift its game by the watchdog last year, with issues raised by infection control procedures and staff shortages.
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Lax infection control procedures and workforce shortages were identified last year at an aged care home which is now at the centre of a major coronavirus outbreak.
The Herald Sun can reveal the aged care watchdog found several deficiencies last September at Glendale Aged Care in Werribee, which is connected to 53 COVID-19 cases including 25 residents and 18 staff. Three residents have died.
The independent audit concluded Glendale failed to meet standards to “prevent and control infection”, as staff raised concerns about workforce shortages preventing them delivering quality care.
“The service did not effectively demonstrate the identification of a respiratory outbreak within the service and strategies to ensure monitoring of consumers presenting with influenza-like symptoms for early identification and management of an outbreak,” the report said.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s most recent audits of Epping Gardens and Aurrum Plenty — where coronavirus outbreaks have also occurred — found both had effective infection control programs but identified “opportunities for improvement”.
The Herald Sun can also reveal 107 aged care facilities were visited by the commission between March and May to assess their “COVID-19 readiness” after they were assessed as “high risk”.
Opposition ageing spokeswoman Julie Collins said: “In the critical weeks leading up to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Victorian nursing homes, why didn’t the Morrison Government and the aged care regulator do more to make sure facilities were prepared for an outbreak?”
The commission visited Glendale again in January and March this year and found it had complied with all accreditation rules. A spokeswoman said there had been no regulatory action in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
But last September, the commission said Glendale was not meeting workforce standards to enable “the delivery and management of safety and quality care and services”.
A dozen workers at the facility told the watchdog that “they did not feel there was enough staff rostered at the service to meet the needs of consumers”. Residents also raised concerns that staff did not have “time to deliver quality care and services”.
“The service did not effectively demonstrate that the workforce is planned, and the number of staff is available to supports safe and quality care and service,” the report said.
“Management said they plan to increase the casual care staff numbers and that an additional floating night staff member has been recently implemented.”
At the time, Glendale was re-accredited for two years, despite failing to meet three out of eight national quality standards.
Scott Morrison said on Monday that it was vital aged care facilities were following infection control protocols, with the commonwealth providing extra COVID-19 training for staff.
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