Statement on Brighton Aged Care

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PDF printable version of Statement on Brighton Aged Care (PDF 18 KB)

26 August 2008

The Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency reduced the accreditation period of Brighton Aged Care in Adelaide as an outcome of a review audit conducted in early August.

The Accreditation Agency has formally identified 17 areas of non-compliance out of 44 accreditation standards arising from the review audit.

In making this decision, the Agency considered the original findings of its assessors on the review audit and took into consideration a response on those finding by the approved provider.

The Agency has decided to reduce the Home's accreditation by one month and it will now expire on 7 November 2008.

In addition, the nursing home has been given a further five days to respond to two new areas of possible non-compliance identified subsequent to the review audit. The areas of concern are clinical care and oral/dental care.

That means there are possibly a total of 19 areas of non-compliance, subject to a final decision of the Agency.

The Home will need to reapply for accreditation beyond November 2008, and that will be subject to a further assessment under an accreditation site visit. This is expected in early October.

The further two possible non-compliance areas were identified at a support contact visit by the Agency on August 18, which was undertaken subsequent to the original review audit.

The Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency and the Department of Health and Ageing will work together to closely monitor the situation and the welfare of residents at the nursing home.

The Minister for Ageing, Mrs Justine Elliot said: “We make no apologies for the tough action that is being taken in relation to this or any other home where potential problems with care are identified.”
“Older Australians in aged care deserve good care and any home failing will be dealt with.”

“The welfare of the residents was the Government’s primary concern and that is why the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency and Department of Health and Ageing are monitoring the facility”.

On Friday August 15, the Department of Health and Ageing issued an official Notice of Non-Compliance and a Notice of Required Action to Brighton Aged Care – after government officers had serious concerns about specific cases in the facility.

This means it has a set timetable to fix those specific concerns identified.

Separately, it has a strict timetable to respond to the broader issues that the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency has identified.

On August 1, the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency conducted a full review audit at the nursing home. Brighton Aged Care is operated by the Japara Group which also runs the Kirralee facility in East Ballarat, Victoria – which failed 33 of 44 basic standards.

At Brighton, the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency’s assessors identified, in early August, 14 possible areas of non-compliance out of 44.

The Agency raised the findings with the facility on 11 August 2008. Their response and possible remedies were taken into account in the Agency’s final decision on compliance at the nursing home.

That final decision identified three additional areas of non-compliance, taking the total number of formally identified areas of non-compliance to 17.

The Home has five days to respond to an additional two possible areas of non-compliance which were identified during a site visit subsequent to the review audit.

Brighton Aged Care is a 71 bed high care facility located on Brighton Road at Brighton in South Australia.

The Approved Provider is Aged Care Services 30 (Brighton) Pty Ltd.

For more information, contact Mrs Elliot's office on (02) 6277 7280