Last week’s Royal Commission hearings have wrapped up in Perth – with Senior Counsel Assisting Peter Rozen QC criticising Japara CEO Andrew Sudholz in his closing remarks.
Japara was ‘in the dock’ for one-and-a-half days being grilled over the case of one resident, Clarence Hausler, an 89-year-old man with dementia who lived in Japara’s Mitcham aged care facility in Adelaide.
Japara’s former Executive Director of Care and current Group Quality Manager both faced aggressive questioning from Mr Rozen across several issues, followed by Andrew Sudholz.
Where Bupa and Southern Cross Care SA were ‘treated’ perhaps softly and respectfully, Japara was seriously cross-examined on a range of issues including staff changing dates on notifications to the Department of ‘significant incidents’, poor record keeping and assessment of Mr Hauser’s family’s complaints.
Mr Sudholz (pictured above) rejected Senior Counsel’s argument that the provider – which had 298 mandatory reports of significant incidents made to the Department of Health between 1 September 2015 and May of this year – has systemic issues around staff on resident assaults.
Mr Sudholz pushed back, explaining that the 298 ‘reported’ incidents once investigated came down to less than 100 serious incidents across four years and over 4,000 beds.
Mr Rozen highlighted an email from Mr Sudholz to his board in which the CEO described the approach of Mr Hausler’s daughter Noleen as “vexatious”.
Mr Sudholz responded that was a reference to where he had been abused and shouted down by Mr Hausler’s daughter “and her activist group” at a general facility meeting he attended and stated they “they showed little respect to me as the CEO of a big organisation”.
These turned out to be very unfortunate words because a later witness, the Commission and the media had a field day pointing out that Mr Hausler was the customer – who is more important in this equation? A lesson on language in emails, even to board members.
The Counsel also turned Mr Sudholz’s comment in an email that the Mitcham facility achieved 100% occupancy and that is a sign that residents and their families are confident in the facility’s services back on him, suggesting that Japara were only concerned with their “corporate interests”.
“The CEO Mr Sudholz referred to 100 per cent occupancy as an apparent measure of quality of care and denied that there was any systemic problem within the organisation that the industry and community know that it provides good care,” Mr Rozen stated in his closing.
The danger of using the wrong words in front of the Commission.
The next round of hearings kicks off next Monday in Darwin.
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