Bupa working to address issues at south coast facility
Bupa says it will ensure its aged care facility on the NSW South Coast will continue to operate.
Bupa says its aged care facility on the NSW south coast will continue operating even though it has had its accreditation revoked by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
The commission decided accreditation for Bupa Eden would be revoked from August 16 after an audit carried out in March found it met only 14 of 44 expected outcomes of the accreditation standards.
The audit found Bupa Eden was failing to actively pursue continuous improvement, didn’t have management systems in place to ensure compliance with legislation and guidelines and that management and staff didn’t have “appropriate knowledge and skills” to perform their roles.
It also found failings in relation to health and personal care, pain management and medication management.
If accreditation is revoked, Bupa will not receive funding from the Commonwealth government beyond the expiry date and the facility will have to demonstrate the issues have been addressed before regaining accreditation.
A spokesman for Bupa apologised to residents and families and said the shortcomings identified by the commission were being addressed as a priority so the facility could return to full compliance as soon as possible.
“These are serious matters and they take time to address,” he said. “We are committed to ensuring we fix them in a sustainable manner. We won’t walk away from the work that needs to be done, we have done a lot already, but we know there is more that needs to be done.”
Consumer concern
The Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association called on Bupa to clarify what would happen when the current accreditation period expired on August 16.
In an email to Bupa CPSA policy manager Paul Verstege called on the organisation to provide answers, including whether it would continue to operate Bupa Eden as an “unregulated facility” and whether it would refund nursing home bonds to Eden residents.
“They are basically not answering questions about what’s going to happen to Bupa Eden,” Mr Versteege said.
The Bupa spokesman said every facility was subject to regulation and Bupa Eden would continue to operate as normal.
“There’s no suggestion it’s going to be closed down, none at all,” he said. “It will continue to operate as normal. We’re working very hard to get it fixed before August.”
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