Ridgeview at Albion Park is the latest Illawarra aged care home to be slapped with sanctions after failing to meet quality standards.
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The Federal Government has imposed restrictions on the Daintree Drive facility after a review this month by the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency (AACQA) found it failed to meet all national accreditation standards.
A Federal Department of Health spokeswoman said information on the areas of non-compliance would be released after a meeting of residents and relatives.
“The safety, health and well-being of older Australians receiving aged care services is of paramount importance and there will be no compromise on care standards, which are regulated by law,” she said.
“The Federal Department of Health can confirm that compliance (sanctions) action has been taken against Ridgeview Albion Park.
“As part of the current compliance action the provider must inform the residents and relatives of the non-compliance, and the actions the provider must take to remedy the non-compliance, through a meeting at the home.
“It is important that residents and relatives of Ridgeview Albion Park are the first to be informed on any non-compliance in the home, and as such the department does not release information of non-compliance until after this meeting.”
Ridgeview is one of 10 facilities in NSW, and one in Queensland, run by Christadelphian Aged Care.
Chief Operations Officer Matthew Lamey said the non-profit organisation had been serving the community for over 70 years – and these were the first sanctions to be applied to one of its homes.
“The health, safety and well-being of our residents is our utmost concern, and we are working closely with the quality agency and department to take all steps necessary to rectify any issues raised,” he said.
“We have immediately put in place an improvement plan to address the concerns raised by the department, which includes the appointment of an expert clinical advisor and an administrator to assist staff in complying with our responsibilities in relation to care and services at our Ridgeview home.
“We have also committed to a training plan for staff in regards to the assessment and management of clinical care, and are boosting our clinical governance at Ridgeview by introducing an additional care manager, who will oversee the clinical management of our residents.”
Mr Lamey said management took the matter “very seriously” and would not be admitting any further residents at the home until they were satisfied all concerns had been addressed.
“Families and residents have been notified and we are meeting with them shortly to explain the implications of the sanctions and how we are responding to ensure the health and well-being of our residents,” he said.
“We are committed to addressing all the concerns raised by the quality agency as quickly as possible to ensure our residents receive the highest standard of care.”
He said the issues raised at Ridgeview did not impact the care and operation of the organisation’s other homes.
It’s the fourth Illawarra aged care facility which has failed to meet AACQA standards in the past 14 months.
A “serious risk decision” was made against Marco Polo at Unanderra on March 20, after an AACQA review found it met just 30 of the 44 outcomes of the national accreditation standards. The facility stands to lose its approval as an aged care provider if it does not meet all standards by October 31.
Meantime Hillside at Figtree and the Garrawarra Centre at Waterfall have regained full accreditation after failing to meet the accreditation standards in April 2017 and May 2017 respectively.
The health department spokeswoman added: “It is the responsibility of providers to meet the strict standards required and where they fail to do this, there is a strong regulatory framework in place to bring them back into compliance as quickly as possible”.