Anglicare CEO Simon Miller again expressed his apologies to the families and friends of the 19 residents who died at the aged care home in Kingswood, Penrith, 52km west of Sydney's CBD, in what was then the largest COVID-19 outbreak in Australia. 

“Anglicare acknowledges that the circumstances in which family members of Newmarch lost their mothers, fathers, grandparents, partners or friends made the loss much greater,” Simon said in a statement. “For the residents and their families, the physical separation from their loved ones and intense distress and worry about them was traumatic.” 

“Anglicare is sorry for the distress experienced during the outbreak by the residents of Newmarch House and their families and friends. Anglicare acknowledges that this was a time of intense anxiety and uncertainty for all of those involved in the outbreak.” 

Last week, NSW Coroner Derek Lee released his findings into the long-running inquest into the deaths of the residents, which occurred after Newmarch House entered lockdown in late March 2020. In total, 37 residents contracted the virus during the outbreak. 

The NSW Coroner found in large part the 19 deaths could not have been prevented after the residents, many of whom had comorbidities and serious conditions, contracted the virus. Only three could have had a different outcome under another model of care, he determined. 

The Coroner also concluded, among other findings: 

• If universal testing of staff had been performed once the outbreak had begun, and timelier reporting of results had allowed for COVID-19 cases to be identified more readily, it would likely have reduced the extent and severity of the outbreak; 

• Frontline management at Newmarch House did not clearly understand the chain of command and did not get effective support from Anglicare senior executives;  

• There was a lack of clarity at Newmarch House as to who, if anyone, bore ultimate responsibility for clinical decision making; 

• Anglicare did not give residents’ families enough specific information about their loved one, and in some cases, it was inaccurate or understated the seriousness of what was occurring; and 

• Anglicare did not demonstrate adequate leadership and governance during the outbreak. 

A class action brought against Anglicare by some of the families was confidentially settled in November last year. 

Simon was appointed as CEO of the Not For Profit in November 2021, replacing Grant Millard who stepped down from the role in February 2022.