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Entrance to the Oakden Older Person Mental health facility
that has been shut down in Adelaide. Picture Mark Brake
Under-fire Bupa meets
with aged care advocate
Son of former Oakden resident
challenges Bupa to change.
By Conor Burke
A
fter another horror week of
revelations, aged care behemoth
Bupa has taken a step towards
repairing its reputation by meeting
with prominent aged care advocate
Stewart Johnston.
The ABC reported that more than half
of the nursing homes run by Bupa are
failing basic standards, and 30 per cent are
putting residents at risk due to poor health
and safety practices, despite aged care
profits of $663 million and $460 million in
government subsidies.
Johnston, whose mother Helen was a
former Oakden resident, made a string
of comments about Bupa on Twitter,
prompting Bupa to arrange a meeting
between him and managing director
Suzanne Dvorak and corporate affairs
director Roger Sharp.
After the meeting, Johnston told Aged
Care Insite that Dvorak and Sharp
acknowledge that “the business has been
run very poorly” and that “there was no
real oversight at any level in Australia until
the beginning of last year”.
“I was absolutely appalled at, again,
another nine days straight of horrendous,
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agedcareinsite.com.au
horrendous things that are happening to
people out there,” he said.
“But unfortunately … we’re almost
becoming desensitised to it, and that’s
a fear that I’ve got: that it’s becoming so
normal and almost to the point where
this has got to stop, but what do we do
to stop it?”
From the ABC’s reporting, there were
suggestions that due to the size and scope
of Bupa’s aged care business – it has
about 6500 residents in care – it may be
“too big to fail”.
“That was my trigger point. When I
watched that, I sat back and instantly I’m
thinking, ‘Are they too big?’, as in they’re
bigger than governments, so no-one’s
going to deal with them properly,” he said.
“No. Why should they? Bugger them,
because there are 6000 people calling a
Bupa [facility] home right now. So, the days
of just allowing them, or just accepting
that they’ve failed, are over. They have got
to make it better, and they have got a very
limited amount of time. Like their time ran
out yesterday.”
Johnston came out of the meeting
feeling positive, and he believes that
change is forthcoming after promises were
made to him in the room.
Dvorak has agreed to accompany
Johnston on a number of unannounced
spot visits to problem Bupa nursing
homes, and Bupa has agreed to reassess
the way it deals with staff and resident
complaints.
“I said, well you need to scrap all that,
and you need to do a 1800 NEW BUPA
[phone hotline] and you need to be telling
the country: ‘We’re not saying sorry for
what we’ve done previously; we want to
know what else is out there that we don’t
know yet’. So, you want to encourage
everyone who has got a horror story to
come forward,” Johnston said.
He also took Bupa to task on
incontinence pad rationing and food
budget restrictions.
Dvorak and Sharp promised him that
no mandate was ever handed down from
board level regarding either issue.
A Bupa spokesperson confirmed these
points to Aged Care Insite.
“We had a meeting with Stewart
Johnston today. We are always keen to
listen to those who have experience in
the aged care sector and appreciated
the opportunity to listen to his ideas,”
the spokesperson said.
“We told Stewart that he is welcome to
visit some of our care homes with Suzanne
Dvorak … and are discussing the best way
to do this.”
Johnston said the proof will be in how
Bupa reacts in the coming weeks, and
added that the second meeting is more
important than the first.
“The point is going to be whether they
are able to deliver,” he said.
“So ask me again in a couple more
days … and I’ll give you that honest answer.
“We’ve left with the fact that we’ll be
making contact again in the next couple
of days. I’ve got the MD’s direct number.
And I said, within the next week, we will
formulate what we’re going to do, to
continue to prove [and] show people that
you’re learning,” he said.
As for the response from Aged Care
But unfortunately …
we’re almost becoming
desensitised to [the aged
care horror stories].
Minister Richard Colbeck regarding the
issues facing the sector, including the Bupa
saga, Johnston was less positive.
“Disappointing. And you can put that
in there.” ■