Residents and family associated with the facility at BaptistCare Griffith were told on August 2 that The Australian Aged Care Quality Agency had found the experienced aged care operator had failed to meet 21 of the 44 accreditation standards, prompting the Department of Health to impose sanctions.

The sanctions come just four months after the same agency met all 44 standards following a scheduled visit by the Quality Agency to what is widely considered one of Canberra’s best facilities. BaptistCare Griffith, a purpose built aged care facility housing 160 residents, opened its doors in 2015 following the closure of Morling Lodge in Red Hill.

Breaches detected in the unscheduled visit by the Quality Agency in July were serious enough to trigger an audit and review of standards that revealed shortcomings in areas ranging from leadership and information systems to some human resources and clinical practices, effectiveness of staff education and continuous improvement processes.

Problems highlighted by the Department of Health that need to be addressed include human resource management, clinical care, skin care, continence management, infection control, behaviour management and living environment.

The sanctions mean BaptistCare will not receive any new government subsidies if it takes in new residents at Griffith in next six months. This forces it to focus on getting things right for existing residents rather than new admissions.

The sanctions also require BaptistCare to appoint an administrator and an adviser for six months to provide relevant staff training. Additional breaches could result in licence revocation.

BaptistCare and its residents are yet to learn the full outcome of the Quality Agency review (the facility is given a chance to respond to the audit review and ask for a reconsideration of its decision), but it has wasted no time implementing changes to a number of areas including the appointment of Aged Care Management Australia as an administrator and nurse adviser. It is working with Baptistcare to bring it back to compliance and ultimately avoid the removal of its accreditation.

A sanctioned facility usually has a varied period of accreditation once it gets back to compliance. This is to ensure it continues to monitor improvements rather than fall back again – noting that the expected outcomes are minimum requirements not a gold standard. The period can be one year or two years depending on the degree of the breaches.

At an at times heated resident’s meeting, BaptistCare general manager of residential service Paull English said he was as shocked as many residents about the problems, sanctions and recommended reforms.

He says the "weaknesses" exposed in the audit are also a result of flaws in the complaint process and recent changes to management.  While several residents spoke of the exceptional care at the facility, some family members were obviously aggrieved at the complaints handling process and the care of their loved ones.

The issues of not enough staff and training– two of the most prevalent complaints by residents and family across most facilities - were repeatedly raised.

The sanctions placed on BaptistCare followed a referral from the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner, which followed a complaint from a resident, rather than issues identified in a scheduled visit. This highlights the importance of the July 1 move to make visits by the Quality Agency unannounced.

It also highlights the need for a more robust and transparent complaints system and process to ensure that anyone considering a particular facility can be confident that important factors such as staff levels, training and care needs are being delivered to the highest standards and not just the minimum.

When complaints are made, they should be promptly responded to and used to improve quality and service. When serious questions are raised about the quality of care, it should be obvious to the public.

It is four weeks since the Quality Agency found the facility to have serious failings and still there is nothing on its website to alert consumers of the review.

The Department of Health put up its notice after the resident’s meeting on August 9, more than a week after it imposed the sanctions. The facility got letters out to residents and relatives within days of the sanctions but more than a week after it knew it was in trouble.

These and other transparency issues will hopefully be addressed with the establishment of an independent Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

As well as picking up the functions currently undertaken by Quality Agency and the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner, there is to be a comparable compliance ratings for residential aged care homes and a new serious incident reporting system. It is due to commence from January 2019.

In the meantime, hopefully every aged care facility is looking closely at the way they operate with an eye to exceeding the accreditation standards and not just meeting them.

For further information go to Baptistcaregriffith.org.au/Griffithupdate

Bina Brown is a director of aged care services company Third Age Matters