Resignations follow photo ‘game’
Three staff members resign from a Victorian RACF after playing a guessing game with photos of residents’ body parts at a private party.
Three members of staff have resigned from an aged care facility near Geelong after they took part in a guessing game using photos of residents’ body parts at a farewell party, according to an article in The Herald Sun.
Sources from the Ann Nichol House in Portarlington told the paper that about 30 hostel residents had agreed to let staff photograph their colostomy bags and body parts such as arms, legs, toes and knees for what they were told was a “scientific project”.
Other staff members who heard about the ‘game’ alerted the hostel management who counseled the people involved but did not inform residents or their family members about what had occurred.
John Fendyk, the CEO of Bellarine Health which runs the facility said the decision was made because management did not want to upset the residents.
“We wanted to deal with the issue internally,” he said.
He told The Herald Sun that the majority of staff at the facility were highly professional and described the incident as a one-off.
The Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, which regulates the aged care industry has launched an investigation into the incident.
