Coronavirus: Leaders and planning blamed for aged care crisis

A review into COVID-19 outbreaks at two Victorian nursing homes found the facilities had inadequate emergency planning, suboptimal infection control and faltering leadership.

Christine Golding. Picture: David Geraghty

A review into COVID-19 outbreaks at two Victorian nursing homes in July that saw 83 lives lost has found the facilities had inadequate emergency planning, suboptimal infection control and faltering leadership during the crisis.

The independent review into Heritage Care’s Epping Gardens and St Basil’s Home for the Aged also concluded their surge workforce planning had been inadequate, with agency workers brought in to replace “furloughed” regular staff often having only basic English and little experience in aged care.

And residents’ families had “largely unsatisfactory” experiences as they sought to visit or hear updates about their loved ones, the damning review by infectious diseases expert Lyn Gilbert and former hospital administrator Alan Lilly found.

But the two professors acknowledged the nursing homes’ attempts to manage the fast-moving outbreak were complicated by an “overextended” contact tracing system, delayed pathology testing and shortages of any qualified replacement staff.

The review was commissioned by the federal health department to determine what lessons could be learned from how the outbreak was handled at the two homes in Melbourne’s north. It was due to be released three weeks ago.

More than 100 residents were infected with COVID-19 at Epping Gardens, with 38 dying, and 86 staff caught the virus. At St Basil’s, 94 residents and 94 staff members were infected, and 45 residents died with COVID-19.

Overall 685 nursing home residents died with COVID-19 across Australia, the vast majority during Victoria’s second wave.

The report called out the facilities for a host of shortcomings.

“Emergency planning and preparedness was inadequate,” it concluded.

“Despite multiple reminders to providers to prepare for a potential COVID-19 outbreak, the review identified inadequate administrative and environmental controls and staff training in key aspects of (infection prevention and control) at both facilities prior to the outbreak.

“Leadership and effective management … faltered at both St Basil’s and Epping Gardens,” it said. “Clinical governance was absent (at worst) or limited (at best).”

Christine Golding said she felt like the wind was knocked out of her when her mother Efraxia died aged 84 at St Basil’s after contracting coronavirus.

Ms Golding said she was “still traumatised” by her mother’s treatment.

“I felt like I had been punched in the guts. It was horrible,” the 58-year-old said. “They didn’t have a chance in that place.”

Ms Golding said she agreed with almost all the report’s findings, but disputed its suggestion there had been “significant improvement” in communication.

“I take massive offence at that,” she said. “I was not advised why mum was evacuated on Monday the 27th (of July) but I subsequently found out she had a high temperature and was suspected of being symptomatic.”

The report accepted systemic improvements had been made in the aged care sector in Victoria since the outbreak, which it said should strengthen resilience and “minimise the scale and impacts of future outbreaks”.

Aged Care Minister Greg Hunt said the report “serves as a platform for understanding and action”. “I would like to acknowledge the role of residents and families in the preparation of the report during what clearly has been a very difficult time,” Mr Hunt said.

Opposition ageing spokeswoman Julie Collins said the report confirmed the Morrison government’s “tragic failure to keep older Australians safe in aged care.”

Tim Hicks, acting chief advocate for provider group Leading Age Services Australia, said: “The lessons in this report have been identified and learned by providers and governments.”