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South Australian politician Frank Pangallo . Picture : James Elsby
‘ Contemptable ’ care
MP calls for dismissal of care facility ’ s senior management .
An Australian politician has called for the senior management of a South Australian aged care facility to be stood down following public outrage over
its approach to a scabies outbreak at one of its hostels .
Frank Pangallo , a South Australian MP , told state parliament that Kindred Living ’ s treatment of residents and staff was “ contemptable ”.
Pangallo said that care workers reported to management numerous times an outbreak of scabies .
“ Senior management ’ s reaction to these very serious concerns was appallingly inadequate … despite the outbreak spreading to more patients and a number of workers assigned to the cottage . A consulting doctor warned the rash would spread quickly .
“ Management had the audacity to blame one of the resident ’ s husband , Peter Strawbridge , for his wife Heather ’ s infection , saying it was probably caused by mosquitos during one of the daily walks he took his wife on .”
After he was contacted by Strawbridge , Pangallo reached out to A Current Affair , which then covered the story .
“ The media exposure prompted the federal government ’ s somewhat toothless watchdog , the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission , into action despite previous complaints falling on deaf ears ,” Pangallo said .
A non-compliance notice was issued in November to the approved provider for failure to comply with the standards relating to personal care and clinical care , and the organisation ’ s service environment .
The facility also received notices in 2019 and 2018 .
Late last year , a Notice to Agree was imposed on the facility due to “ an immediate and severe risk to the safety , health or wellbeing of care recipients ”, and related to all eight standards .
Pangallo said : “ I am now writing to its board , asking it to dismiss its senior management .
“ I ’ m also asking the federal aged care minister Greg Hunt how an aged care facility with such an appalling track record can continue to operate with current management in place and who actually controls the facility which take millions of dollar in commonwealth funding . ■
Tipsy or tanked ?
Study shows level of inebriation is tough to tell .
It ’ s the slurred catchcry of many a drunk person , ‘ I ’ m fine !’, and new research has explored the tendency to underestimate levels of intoxication .
Researchers interviewed 388 students outside three concerts at the University of Otago during Orientation Week festivities . They asked participants to rate how intoxicated they felt on a scale of 0 ( meaning not at all ) to 10 ( meaning very ) before they took a breath test .
The research team also rated how intoxicated they believed each student to be , looking out for tell-tale signs like slurred speech and loss of coordination .
People tended to have a better grasp on how drunk they were at a lower blood alcohol concentration ( BAC ) but both the self-rated and observer-rated intoxication level appeared to drop-off at a higher level of BAC , around three times the legal limit .
Observers were significantly more likely to underestimate the intoxication of older participants , while people of European descent tended to underestimate their level of intoxication compared to other ethnicities .
The authors wrote : “ Explanations from other studies suggested that cognitive impairment may occur at the higher intoxication levels , meaning that people can no longer interpret internal signals of intoxication .
“ However , as we observed this ‘ dropoff ’ effect at the higher intoxication levels for observer-rated intoxication as well , the ‘ cognitive impairment ’ explanation does not apply ; thus , it is possible that another explanation is needed for both effects .”
One potential explanation the team put forward is that there was a ‘ ceiling effect ’ for observable signs of intoxication . Due to the nature of the study , none of the participants displayed overt signs of high BAC , such as unconsciousness , as they had to get themselves to the event .
The researchers said that even professionals who regularly interact with alcohol-intoxicated people can struggle to correctly identify presence or level of intoxication .
A study based in an emergency setting found that clinicians missed just under a quarter ( 23 per cent ) of alcohol-intoxicated presentations .
“ Years of experience or receiving training may not always be enough to overcome these inaccuracies .” ■
6 | nursingreview . com . au