Watchdog didn’t check St Basil’s residents during outbreak

The aged care watchdog did not ever visit St Basil’s aged care home during its Covid outbreak as dying residents suffered from starvation and neglect.

The aged care watchdog did not once step foot into Covid-19 infected St Basil’s as dying residents suffered neglect, dehydration and starvation.

An inquest into the deaths of 50 residents at the Fawkner home heard the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission — which regulates standards of care — has a strict policy that it does not enter residential homes during outbreaks.

It follows evidence from Commonwealth agency workers who said standards of care at St Basil’s were being breached within hours of replacing usual staff in July 2020, with residents not getting medications or being fed.

The home was fully evacuated 10 days later, as residents were dying, found to be suffering severe dehydration with some elderly complaining of not eating for days.

Commonwealth agency workers said standards of care at St Basil’s were being breached within hours of replacing usual staff in July 2020. Picture: Sarah Matray

St Basil’s was fully evacuated as residents were dying, found to be suffering severe dehydration with some complaining of not eating for days. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Some agency workers even refused to return to St Basil’s after one day of work amid fears they would lose their registration because of substandard care.

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson confirmed as a matter of policy that “we do not visit residential age care services when they have an outbreak”.

Asked why, she equated it to a person suffering a major injury in a road accident, who needed a paramedic, not a cop checking their licence.

But the policy meant the commission responsible for standards of care didn’t have eyes on the ground.

It also meant important tasks were handed to contractors — the Commonwealth sent Aspen Medical to St Basil’s to conduct an assessment in the early days of the outbreak, despite having no authority to seize documents.

However, the commission did have that authority.

Ms Anderson told the court she held concerns about a Victorian plan to furlough all St Basil’s staff as close contacts and replace them with agency staff, which occurred on July 22.

Asked why she didn’t call chief health officer Brett Sutton to challenge his decision, she said, “I considered it was outside my jurisdiction”.