Inquiry call after woman found with maggots in her mouth at NSW nursing home

Port Stephens woman Jayne Carter has raised serious concerns about the standards of aged care facilities after she was told by staff at the Opal Raymond Terrace Gardens nursing home that they found maggots in her mother Shirley's mouth. 

Shirley died at the nursing home in October 2016.

Ms Carter told the ABC that she wanted justice for all people in aged care, and thinks an inquiry into the sector is "imperative."

"Opal say they are experts in dementia and care for the aged, and I think the entire aged care system needs a bit of shake up because this is happening too often to too many people," she said.

"This is a generation that fought for our freedom, we can fight for them."

Port Stephens MP Kate Washington said these types of incidents needed to be in the public domain.

"They should be on the public record, and not just through the media," she said.

"It's a difficult decision to choose where to place your loved ones, and when there is no information on the public record about prior instances like this, then how on earth can people make an informed choice?"

Ms Washington said the government was trying to remove registered nurses within aged care facilities.

"We have legitimate and deep concerns that reducing quality of care in an aged care setting is not the direction we need to be travelling in," she said.

"As a broad principle, we say it is paramount to have that quality of care and expertise on site at all times."

Managing Director of Opal, Gary Barnier, told the ABC that the Raymond Terrace management involved in the case at the time had been dismissed, and that they supported an inquiry into the sector.

"We would be pleased to support any such process," he said.

"We did not conduct oral care for a palliating resident every two hours. It was done four hourly, and that is not our personal standard."

Newcastle Herald