St George Aged Care Centre, owned by Marlowe Homes, has taken its insurer Dual Australia to the Federal Court over Dual’s refusal to pay more than $820,000 the home spent on advisers after being found non-compliant twice by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
St George Aged Care Centre in Bexley, 14km south of Sydney’s CBD, suffered a COVID-19 outbreak in August and September last year. Eight residents caught the virus and three people died. Seven staff also had COVID.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission issued a notice to St George Aged Care at the time of the outbreak threatening to withdraw government subsidies for new residents if an adviser was not appointed to address compliance failures, including infection prevention and control, and the use of personal protective equipment.
“The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission identified that there is an immediate and severe risk to the safety, health or well-being of care recipients to whom the approved provider is providing care,” the Commission wrote at the time.
A second notice was issued in March 2022 withdrawing subsidies for any new residents for four months to ensure compliance issues were resolved.
According to a Federal Court lawsuit filed last week, AAP reports, St George has spent more than $820,000 on advisers from three firms, including most recently Health Generation. Charges are ongoing.
Dual Australia, which issues policies on behalf of Lloyd’s of London, the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance broker, rejected St George Aged Care’s claim.
“(St George) seeks declarations that the policy responds to the claim. Additionally, (St George) seeks to be indemnified by (Dual) for the advisor fees that it has incurred to date and continues to incur,” the company wrote.
An audit report by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission in April said improvements had been made by St George Aged Care. Though it still fell short of the Aged Care Quality Standards, the auditors noted that further staff training was to occur subsequently. St George was reaccredited on 19 April.
