Charges laid and staff dismissed

Police have charged a Sutherland nursing home employee with assault, while on the Central Coast allegations of sexual assault have led to the sacking of two nursing home employees.

In Sutherland, an investigation revealed that the alleged assaults took place between January and June of this year and involved the repeated assault of 90-year-old residents.

Detectives arrested the 49-year-old woman at her home yesterday and charged her with 10 counts of common assault. The alleged offences relate to incidents involving four ‘high-dependency’ residents. The woman has been granted conditional bail and is due to appear in Sutherland Local Court on November 20.

On the Central Coast, in two separate incidents, two employees have been sacked for allegedly sexually assaulting women in their care. Unconfirmed reports have described one of the employees involved as being developmentally disabled and working at the home under a government-funded employment scheme.

Police confirmed yesterday that they were investigating both cases but have not yet laid charges.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Ageing confirmed that two cases of alleged assault had been reported in recent weeks. She said the complaints would be investigated by the Aged Care Complaints Investigation Scheme to determine if the home was fit to provide adequate care.