The federal Department of Health has granted a Newcastle nursing home exceptional leave to stay accredited, despite deeming it non-compliant for failings in care.
An audit by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission last month found industry giant Bupa non-compliant in two out of eight quality standards at its nursing home in the Newcastle suburb of Waratah.
Accreditation in exceptional circumstances is made by the department under the Aged Care Act and allows for operations to continue despite failings.
The quality agency said it was in response to COVID prompting the suspension of site audits to determine whether to accredit, not to re-accredit or vary the periods of accreditation for a service.
Failings identified at Bupa's Waratah home included one in four residents surveyed left waiting eight minutes or more after buzzing for help.
"Staff rosters reviewed by the assessment team identified vacant shifts are not consistently filled."
The audit blamed the lack of staff for some residents being left in soiled clothing, and staff interviewed said quality of care was diminished because there was no rostered time for a shift handover.
Failings in care
The audit report also took aim at failings in how residents' falls were managed and raised concerns about a lack of neurological assessments to identify potential brain damage.
The report noted that workforce procedures had been improved, but the home did not "consistently enable the delivery of safe and quality care and services".
Bupa vows to improve
A spokeswoman for Bupa said the company has made changes to address its alleged failings.
She added agency staff were employed as needed, that residents' care plans had been reviewed, and that there had been "significantly improved call-bell response times, with performance tracked daily and discussed with care staff each day".
The company said management of falls was also a focus.
"Ensuring that only registered or enrolled nurses conduct neurological observations following falls, with weekly meetings held to discuss the care plans for high-risk residents," the spokeswoman said.
Minister talks up change
University of Newcastle professor and aged care expert Dimity Pond said reforms proposed by the federal government had been too slow.
"We clearly need more funding and better staffing ratios if our vulnerable elderly are going to be protected in residential aged care.
"While these reports are concerning, the ability for residential aged care to improve the quality of its service is related to staffing levels, and this relates both to funding and to the furloughing of staff due to COVID."
A spokesman from the office of the Minister for Aged Care, Richard Colbeck, said efforts to strengthen the protections for senior Australians in aged care remained a priority for the government".
"The work of the strengthened independent Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission remain key to that important reform," the spokesman said.
