An "alarming" series of failures at a southern Tasmanian aged care home has forced the sector's national regulator to step in, issuing a reprimand for non-compliance after the home missed half of its performance benchmarks.
The Hawthorn Village aged care home in Blackman's Bay was handed a noncompliance notice by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission after an audit found it failed to meet four of eight performance standards.
That report has been labelled "alarming" by the union representing aged care workers, but not surprising, given the number of issues facing the industry.
The commission's audit late last year found two residents were not receiving adequate personal care nor showering, the medical conditions of some patients were not being properly monitored, and staff members felt they had not received sufficient training to perform their roles.
It also found changes in medical condition or needs were not properly treated nor recorded for five patients, including a mobility challenged patient not being properly monitored after having an unwitnessed fall and vomiting blood.
The home also failed to demonstrate another patient was being properly monitored after suffering "significant head injuries" following two falls, with no record that neurological observation and pain-monitoring procedures had been followed.
Operator points to 'whole industry' being in crisis
Christian Homes Tasmania chief executive Glenn Hardwick said residents regularly received excellent care, and the issues identified by the commission were largely about a failure to complete documentation.
He said that the problem was exacerbated by a large staff turnover, and an industry-wide struggle to attract new employees.
"The major issue is the lack of time for the staff to properly document the care that is being provided," Mr Hardwick said.
Three resident representatives also told the commission that dental care at the facility was "either poor or intermittent", with one resident not having their care plan updated after a "significant deterioration" in their oral health.
The report noted two residents did not receive sufficient personal hygiene and showering services, highlighting a 15-day span where there was no recorded proof that a resident with dementia, who would regularly refuse assistance, had been showered.
"Personal hygiene is not always provided to optimise the health and wellbeing of consumers, especially in the instances where refusal is common," the report said.
Mr Hardwick would not comment on specific cases but said Hawthorn Village had committed to fixing all issues.
He said the home had submitted a continuous-improvement plan to the regulator, while TasTAFE had been called in to provide further training to staff members.
He said the commission's decision to renew Hawthorn Village's accreditation for two and a half years was a "vote of confidence" that the facility would address the issues.
Health and Community Services Union industrial manager Robbie Moore said the report was "quite alarming" and called on the facility to immediately ensure more staff members were on shift each day.
"We're seeing more and more of this, and it's, overall, caused by understaffing," Mr Moore said.
"This report does demonstrate that there are issues when it comes to the care that residents are receiving but, I can tell you, talking to these staff every day, that they are going above and beyond to ensure as much as possible that residents are safe."
Four Tasmanian nursing homes have current noncompliance notices.
