St George Aged Care has sued to recoup more than $820,000 spent on compliance at one of its Sydney homes hit with a COVID-19 outbreak in August last year.
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In the outbreak, eight residents contracted COVID-19 in August and September and three died. A further seven staff also caught the virus.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission issued a notice to St George at the time of the outbreak threatening to withdraw government subsidies if an adviser was not appointed to address compliance failures, including infection prevention and control, and the use of personal protective equipment.
"The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission identified that there is an immediate and severe risk to the safety, health or well-being of care recipients to whom the approved provider is providing care," the commission wrote at the time.
A second notice was issued in March 2022 withdrawing subsidies for four months as compliance issues were dealt with.
According to a Federal Court lawsuit filed last week, St George has spent over $820,000 on advisers from three firms, including most recently Health Generation. These costs are ongoing.
When a claim with SME insurance business Dual Australia for these fees was rejected, St George filed its lawsuit challenging this decision. Dual issues policies on behalf of UK insurance powerhouse Lloyd's.
"(St George) seeks declarations that the policy responds to the claim. Additionally, (St George) seeks to be indemnified by (Dual) for the advisor fees that it has incurred to date and continues to incur," the company wrote.
As well as infection control, the advisers also had to make improvements in other areas within the facility, including clinical care, personal care and elder abuse.
The Bexley home was hit with a further COVID outbreak on February 1 this year with at least 10 residents testing positive. This outbreak ended on February 17.
An audit report by the Aged Care Commission in April recognised improvements made by St George.
While it still fell short of the Aged Care Quality Standards, the auditors noted that further training was to be implemented over the coming months. St George was re-accredited on April 19.
As of August this year, there have been over 7300 COVID outbreaks at 2700 aged care homes across the country. More than 14,500 residents have tested positive leading to almost 3600 deaths.
AAP has contacted St George and Dual for comment.
Australian Associated Press
