Both The Age and The Australian newspapers are reporting the outcome of audits by the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency (AACQA) which identified serious management failures were involved in the deaths of 10 patients at St John’s Village in Wangaratta and six people dying at Strathdevon in TAS.
The Minister for Ageing, Ken Wyatt, is quoted “the flu season affected aged care residents and staff and the home’s infection control and contingency plans were overwhelmed but it was unacceptable”.
“Staff vaccination rates in both homes were low, with only around one third vaccinated ahead of the outbreaks, and dozens of staff were subsequently struck down with the flu”.
The Chief Executive of St John’s has since resigned and its former Acting Care Services Manager has been reported to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority (AHPRA).
Strathdevon has appointed a Nurse Adviser plus additional clinical and cleaning staff.
