Aged Care audit shows where Bupa Berry failed 35 of 44 quality outcomes

In November last year, the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency identified issues of non-compliance at Bupa Berry, finding they met just 10 of 44 expected outcomes.

Sanctions were placed on the home, preventing it from accepting new residents for six months. 

Full details about the Berry home's non-compliance have been revealed, following the release of the Department of Health audit. 

The review was conducted between October and November last year.

On January 31 a delegate of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner revoked the service's accreditation. 

The period of accreditation will expire on March 31, 2019, with the home expected to apply for re-accreditation before that date. 

The unmet standards related to poor medication management, poor documentation of pain management, unsatisfactory behaviour management, issues with cleaning and building maintenance, issues with staffing and unfilled shifts, inadequate catering and cold meals and poor communication to residents and relatives. 

According the audit report, Bupa Berry has 106 allocated places, 100 of which were occupied during the audit - 99 of these people were receiving high level care. 

The full report revealed failure in providing residents with appropriate nutrition and hydration, and said at times staff failed to address continence issues. 

The auditor said while residents were assessed for risk of malnutrition, strategies had not been implemented to manage the risk. 

READ MORE: Claims of under-staffing, mismanagement at Bupa Berry

The auditor said referrals to medical professionals were not often made if a resident was at risk of malnutrition.  

"Monitoring of body weight is not consistent and care recipients who lose weight are not reassessed or strategies put in place to address the weight loss," the report read. 

The report also found that residents' continence was managed ineffectively. 

"Faecal and urinary continence assessments were completed however did not provide appropriate information to manage care recipients’ continence," the audit report said.

The report said bowel monitoring was done by staff, but constipation was not addressed. 

One of the more shocking aspects of the report detailed residents did not receive adequate emotional support and their right to privacy and dignity was not always recognised. 

According to the report, residents did not receive "appropriate support in adjusting to life in the new environment". 

The report also said "care recipients’ right to privacy, dignity and confidentiality was not consistently recognised and/or respected", with residents of the Berry home not always treated with respect by staff.  

Families of people in care at the home previously told the South Coast Register their loved ones did not have enough to stimulate them at the home, as there were no activities or outings. 

The audit report reflected these claims, stating residents "were not provided with opportunity to participate in interests and activities of interest to them". 

Lack of appropriately trained staff was also an issue for the aged care home. The report said many of the staff at Bupa Berry did not have the appropriate knowledge or skills to perform their roles effectively. 

"It has not been demonstrated that all staff have attended relevant mandatory training or that they completed relevant core skills assessments within the past 12 months," the report read. 

Staffing levels also meant that laundry and catering was not up to standard. The report detailed some residents were dissatisfied with their meals, while the dining experience was negatively impacted by inadequate staffing levels. 

The home also failed the 'infection control' standards, as environmental cleaning was not regularly undertaken, which was again in line with comments made by families of Bupa Berry residents. 

In November last year a spokesperson for Bupa apologised to the residents and their families of the Berry care home. 

“Bupa is committed to making significant improvements at the home and regaining the trust of our residents and their families,” they said. 

“This does not represent the high standards of aged care that Bupa stands for and that our residents deserve."

Since the audit Bupa has appointed former Health Services Commissioner of Victoria, Beth Wilson to advocate for residents and families of the facility. 

Bupa Berry has hired 11 new staff members since the sanctions, with more recruitment underway, which the spokesperson said would lead to more activities and stimulation for residents. 

“We are reviewing our lifestyle activities calendar and continuing to seek feedback from residents on what activities they would like to participate in,” they said.