Commission finds Blue Care Toowoomba used chemical restraints without consent

MORE than 20 residents of a Toowoomba aged care facility were being restrained with medication without consent or medical authorisation, a report has found.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission performed a site visit of Blue Care Toowoomba over two days on August 6 and 7 and found the service was non-compliant with two Aged Care Quality and Safety Standards.

Commission officers found 21 residents were receiving "psychotropic medication as a form of chemical restraint" but Blue Care "had not identified these consumers were receiving chemical restraint and therefore had not sought consent of medical authorisation for the use of the restraint".

"Care planning directives do not provide guidance for staff in relation to the appropriate use of the restraint," the report said.

Blue Care did not refute the findings of the report and said consent would be obtained for all residents prescribed chemical restraints and care planning directives would be updated.

Other issues around a non-functioning call bell for a high falls risk resident, a lack of documentation around monitoring of the same resident's blood glucose levels, as well as a lack of wound care documentation and inconsistent monitoring of fluid intake for two residents were identified by the commission.

 

 

Blue Care committed to rectifying those issues, the report said.

The commission also found that residents had generally positive feedback regarding their care and services at the facility.

Blue Care also committed to improvements around the involvement of residents and their representatives in the assessment and planning of their care plans.

Blue Care was contacted for comment.

Originally published as Aged care facility used chemical restraints without consent