10 September 2019

Broulee aged care facility gets final tick from industry regulator

| Ian Campbell
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Image by truthseeker08 from Pixabay

Photo: Image by truthseeker08 from Pixabay

Broulee residential aged care facility, Banksia Lodge has now met all 44 of the ‘expected outcomes’ set down by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

The Banksia Villages’ facility came to the attention of the Commission late last year when an unannounced re-accreditation audit raised a number of flags.

The audit of December 5 and 6, 2018 found:

  • The home does not have a system to ensure there is enough appropriately skilled and qualified staff to meet the needs of care recipients.
  • Ongoing nursing care assessment is not always undertaken.
  • Care recipients are not as free as possible from pain. Care recipients/representatives told us care recipients experience pain which is not relieved by the strategies provided by the home. The home’s pain management program is not being implemented and is able to be achieved with the current allocated resources.
  • Care recipients’ medication is not managed safely or correctly.
  • Wound care is not always attended as directed, monitored or evaluated. Staff do not demonstrate skill in skin care or wound management.
  • Issues relating to medication administration, pain management, skin care, continence care, behavioural management, nutrition and hydration and clinical assessment and planning of care;
  • The home has an ineffective system for providing kitchen staff with each care recipients’ hydration and nutritional needs, to allow staff to provide appropriate meals.

All up Banksia Lodge was found be needing improvement in 9 of 44 areas prescribed by the Accreditation Standards.

Despite this, the Commission re-accredited Banksia Lodge for a period of 1 year and set a period for improvement.

A further audit conducted on May 7, 2019, found Banksia has now met all 44 expected outcomes.

Banksia CEO, Graham Wise, says it has been a challenging time for staff, residents, and families.

“The extent of required changes and the speed at which we implemented them created some disruption. However, the changes have been very positively received by our most important stakeholders – our residents – and have been effective in improving performance, quality, service and safety,” he says.

“Banksia has maintained a dialogue with residents, families and staff throughout this time, ensuring clear and transparent communication about initial failures and the subsequent plan to address these issues and deliver improved performance.

“I sincerely thank our residents and their families for their support, understanding, and engagement throughout this whole process.”

Mr Wise says Banksia will continue to implement its plan for continuous improvement and will monitor quality, service, and safety closely to ensure sustained compliance.

Banksia Lodge is due for re-accreditation in April 2020.

Bankisa is one of three Far South Coast aged care facilities to fail accreditation standards in recent months, IRT Dalmeny was pinged in February 2019, Bupa Eden in January 2019.

The issues raised for all three facilities come in the context of the Royal Commission into Aged Care which is taking submissions until at least the end of September 2019.

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