A Coroner has found that an aged care home provided poor quality care when a resident died after falling, and the home’s management did not cooperate transparently during a subsequent investigation.
Resident Peter Guy died of pneumonia 22 days after he fell at Freemasons Home Lindisfarne (now Derwent Views) aged care home, in Lindisfarne, Tasmania, in April last year. The home was owned by Masonic Care Tasmania (MCT) at the time, but acquired by well-known aged care turnaround specialists, Respect Aged Care, later last year.
In a report on the death, Coroner Simon Cooper said MCT did not cooperate with his investigation, “deliberately” providing incomplete information.
The Coroner concluded that MCT’s level of co-operation was “poor” and the care the resident received at the facility was “substandard”, The Mercury has reported.
“The evidence indicates that the Freemasons Home do not appear to have used bed alarms or any other sensory or mobility type alarms for Mr Guy, despite repeated falls, clear evidence of wandering and well documented evidence of worsening confusion in the wake of each fall,” the Coroner said in his report.
The Coroner noted that, shortly before the man's death, an audit found Freemasons Home did not comply with seven of eight quality standards.
The SOURCE: The home was assessed in December 2022 and found to be compliant with the Aged Care Quality Standards – Respect has a proven track record of turning culture and operations around.
