Statement about Bupa St Kilda, New Zealand
Bupa has responded to media coverage about an audit of its St Kilda care home.
Carolyn Cooper, Chief Operating Officer and Lead Nurse for Bupa Villages and Aged Care New Zealand:
“We sincerely apologise again to the residents and relatives of Bupa St Kilda care home. We pride ourselves on our person-first approach to aged care and know the responsibility that comes with caring for older New Zealanders.
“An external audit on 7 June identified some areas that require improvement. We take these findings extremely seriously and have taken further action to continue to improve quality at the care home.
“A follow up audit by an independent reviewer at the end of June found that there was no evidence of the historical complaints of poor care that had been provided to the auditor.
“We know there is more to do but we are responding to this with the utmost seriousness and desire to improve.”
Background information:
· Our Clinical Service Improvement team has provided advice and support to the care home to assist with the ongoing improvement of quality of care.
- The areas identified for improvement in the 7 June audit were rated low to moderate risk by the auditor.
· All our nurses at Bupa St Kilda have been trained in, and are competent in, wound care. The 7 June audit found appropriate assessment and care planning tools and templates to facilitate effective wound management.
· In the Bupa St Kilda dementia community, 9 of our 10 staff have completed accredited dementia care training and the tenth staff member in that community is currently undergoing the training. We are extending the dementia care training to all staff throughout the care home.
· We are randomly auditing the response times for attending to call bells across all shifts and acting on the findings.
· A follow up audit by an independent reviewer at the end of June found there was no evidence of the historical complaints of poor care that had been provided to the auditor.
The auditor found that care plans were consistently individualised and appropriate for each resident; care plans were followed and updated as required; and that there was evidence of family involvement in care planning.
The independent review also found the staff were competent to deliver the care required.
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