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Chief Psychiatrist Review mentioned in these news articles

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Barb Spriggs on Day 1 of Royal Commission

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Posted February 11, 2019 18:47:51

Barbara Spriggs says she prefers to give compliments rather than criticism.

Yet from the moment her 66-year-old husband Bob was admitted to the Oakden Older Persons Mental Health facility in South Australia, her gut feeling told her things were terribly wrong and she would have to speak up.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison cited the Oakden nursing home as one of the reasons for announcing the royal commission last September.

On the first day of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, Mrs Spriggs revealed how Bob's accommodation was "like something from the 19th century".

A bare, locked room with just a sheet to lay on.

No seat on the toilet bowl, paper towels to dry himself.

Her husband was drugged up, she believed, to make it easier for staff.

She saw other residents sedated.

"It was like a prison," she said.

When Bob Spriggs - who had Parkinson's and dementia- was rushed to hospital with severe bruising, thought to be caused by restraints, no one in authority was concerned.

The injuries did not raise alarm bells, the police were not called and no one informed any of the Government agencies responsible for nursing homes.

"To this day, I don't know what happened to Bob at Oakden," Mrs Spriggs said.

"I can't believe that nobody else could pick up how bad that place was."

It is the central question likely to be asked time and again at this long-awaited royal commission.

Tough questions for those responsible

This question of regulation is where the parallels between the recent royal commission into the financial services industry and this one into the aged care sector will be extremely evident.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) came under fire for leaving misconduct unpunished or imposing penalties that "did not meet the seriousness of what had been done".

How will the equivalent bodies responsible for the safety of the elderly in nursing homes fare?

You would expect those bodies - the Aged Care Quality Agency and the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner- would be subject to some tough questions from the royal commission.

However, both bodies were disbanded by the Federal Government on December 31, last year.

They were replaced with yet another configuration, the new Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

It is not clear whether a representative from those former bodies will be compelled to speak.

National attention desperately deserved

In terms of hearing from other members of the public, it will be some time.

Although 800 members of the public have already made submissions about their experience in residential aged care, this first round of hearings is a fact-finding mission, devoted to hearing from industry, unions and professional bodies about how the system operates.

That might seem excessive to some, especially in an industry which has been subject to a staggering 72 reviews, inquiries and reports in the past 11 years.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison cited the Oakden tragedy as one of the reasons for announcing the royal commission last September, despite the fact Oakden had already been the subject of an ICAC investigation and a national review.

Those inquiries heard shocking instances ofabuse, neglect and the murder of a man in care, but did not receive the national attention it so desperately deserved.

Despite Barbara Spriggs having the ear of various influential Government agencies, she still does not know the truth about what happened to her husband.

And because there is no register for personal care workers, who make up 75 per cent of the industry,little is known about those who worked at Oakden or any suspicions about them.

"I think about those who hurt Bob and I wonder whether they're employed somewhere else," she said.

"I wonder if their employers know about their previous employment."

It is just one of the many issues and personal stories this royal commission will need to examine to restore public faith in a system which many of us or our loved ones will need as we age.

Topics: royal-commissions, aged-care, community-and-society, adelaide-5000, sa, australia

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Family's pain at the heart of day one of the aged care royal commission

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Posted February 11, 2019 18:47:51 Barbara Spriggs says she prefers to give compliments rather than criticism. Yet from the moment her 66-year-old husband Bob was admitted to the Oakden Older Persons Mental Health facility in South Australia, her gut feeling told her things were terribly wrong and she would have to speak up.

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ALP Premier initially defending Oakden

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Updated May 01, 2017 11:20:38

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has defended his mental health minister over her handling of the Oakden mental health facility.

The aged care centre is being closed down after a chief psychiatrist's review found dementia residents had suffered abuse and neglect and the mistreatment went back years.

Mental Health Minister Leesa Vlahos received a letter in 2014 from Federal MP Tony Zappia about a constituent who feared there was a "high risk of severe injury or death" at the facility because of understaffing.

Ms Vlahos, who was the parliamentary secretary at the time, replied to the letter saying staffing levels were more than adequate.

The centre also received an unannounced review by the Federal Government in response to a complaint in 2007 and revoked funding for the facility.

Ms Vlahos did not commission a review of the centre until earlier this year following a complaint by the family of patient, Bob Sprigg, who was overdosed with 10 times his prescribed medication amount on at least three occasions and had bruises on his limbs revealing signs of restraint.

Mr Weatherill said he had "full confidence" in Ms Vlahos and denied she ignored warnings about the facility's standards in 2014.

"She received advice that staffing levels were beyond adequate at the agency and that advice has proven to be incorrect," he said.

"It's deeply disturbing that we could have a state government agency giving her advice, which has now ultimately proven to be wrong.

"What was never drawn to her attention at that time [in 2014], or at any other time, were the depth of the problems that were occurring at Oakden.

"Until of course 2016, when she arrived at the view that there needed to be a thorough inquiry and the chief psychiatrist undertook that thorough inquiry."

Mr Weatherill also took the opportunity to apologise for what took place.

"I am deeply sorry to those families and to those residents," he said.

Government's handling 'appalling'

Mr Spriggs' widow, Barb Spriggs, said the Government's handling of the situation was appalling from the start.

"The Premier and the Minister have just put on blinkers," she said.

"They obviously have just put on blinkers and decided not to act on any of it.

"It is just appalling what people have been going through over 10 years."

Ms Spriggs said fixing the issue had to be a priority.

"The Premier, the Mental Health Minister, need to pull their fingers out and get this fixed ASAP."

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said he did not think it was plausible Ms Vlahos had made a thorough investigation with her department.

"I mean, she's picked up the phone there and said, 'everything all right there? Yep? Great, no problems'," he said.

"There were repeated warnings to this Government that go back a decade.

"This is a classic case of gross neglect and cover up of a horrendous situation to our most vulnerable and nobody wants to take responsibility."

But Mr Weatherill praised Ms Vlahos for ensuring an investigation was undertaken by SA Health.

"The reality is, if the minister had not instituted this inquiry, we would not have been aware of the depth of the concerns at this institution," he said.

"Rather than criticism, she should be acknowledged for the fact that she has shone a light on this facility and it's revealed these very uncomfortable truths about the way in which this facility has been operating.

"What is disturbing, however, is that none of the systems of protection that have been put in place by the Government have revealed the depth of the concerns at this institution before this report has been put in place."

Topics: aged-care, community-and-society, mental-health, health, healthcare-facilities, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, oakden-5086, adelaide-5000, sa

First posted May 01, 2017 09:58:00

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SA Premier defends handling of Oakden mental health facility

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Updated May 01, 2017 11:20:38 South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has defended his mental health minister over her handling of the Oakden mental health facility. The aged care centre is being closed down after a chief psychiatrist's review found dementia residents had suffered abuse and neglect and the mistreatment went back years.

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Family who started publicly calling for Investigation after their father's death

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Updated January 18, 2017 19:29:52

An elderly man was given 10 times the amount of his prescribed medication and left with unexplained bruises before his death while staying at a government-run mental health facility in Adelaide's north-east, sparking a review of the entire facility.

Bob Spriggs died when he was a patient at the Older Persons Mental Health facility at Oakden last February, which provides residential care.

An investigation was launched on the day the ABC asked for a comment from the Government.

The 66-year-old was in the facility due to a series of illnesses including Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia, which can cause people to be violent.

Within days of arriving from the Repatriation General Hospital, his family noticed a rapid decline in his health.

His wife, Barb Spriggs, was told he had been given 500mg of seroquel, an anti-psychotic drug, instead of 50mg.

The family said he could have been overdosed up to three times.

"I was left feeling very frustrated, very disappointed," Mrs Spriggs said.

"Very angry that we had gone through so much to make both of those moves as comfortable and as easy as we could."

Earlier in the same week, his family found Mr Spriggs lying on the floor when they visited him.

His daughter, Kerry Spriggs, said he also had unexplained bruises around the top of his legs.

"It became apparent that it was most likely from restraint, so restraining him, which we were never aware of," she said.

The family said they raised concerns with the facility when he was having trouble eating and drinking, but they said their concerns fell on deaf ears.

Mrs Spriggs said the level of service at the facility was a stark contrast to the high level of care at the Repat hospital.

"It's not a good facility out there [at Oakden] and I think South Australia really needs better facilities for people with mental illnesses," she said.

Spriggs family searches for answers

Nearly one year on, Mr Spriggs' family is still searching for answers.

With the help of Maurice Corcoran from the Community Visitors Scheme, they made a formal complaint about his treatment mid last year.

They have received a letter of apology from the Health Department for the standard of care provided, but still do not know what exactly went wrong.

Mr Corcoran said the family deserved more answers, especially regarding how many times he was over medicated.

"It was 10 times the amount that he was meant to have and the family are still not clear on how many times he received this overdose of medication," he said.

Mr Corcoran said understaffing was a big problem at the facility.

"The staffing ratio is considerably less in this facility in comparison to other older persons mental health services," he said.

Poor treatment sparks review

Complaints by the Spriggs family have sparked a state investigation of the entire facility.

The review was launched on the same day the ABC asked for a response from Mental Health Minister Leesa Vlahos.

She said the service should have listened to the family's concerns and she is addressing the complaint as a priority.

"I'm angered by what I've heard and if it was my family I would be deeply, deeply unhappy just as the Spriggs family is and that is the reason I triggered this review," she said.

"The service did not respond to the family soon enough and not appropriately in hearing their concerns.

"I do not wish to see this occurring again to another family in South Australia and I feel very deeply for the family and understand that they feel very unhappy with the service ... and that is why I triggered the review.

The review will investigate clinical practice at the facility, as well as staffing, and is expected to take about eight weeks.

Mrs Spriggs said she wanted to see processes at the facility change.

"We want some answers and we need to know that procedures are put into place that this doesn't happen to anybody else," she said.

The review began this week.

Topics: mental-health, health, healthcare-facilities, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, oakden-5086, adelaide-5000, sa

First posted January 18, 2017 17:17:44

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Elderly man overmedicated, restrained at mental health facility, family says

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Updated January 18, 2017 19:29:52 An elderly man was given 10 times the amount of his prescribed medication and left with unexplained bruises before his death while staying at a government-run mental health facility in Adelaide's north-east, sparking a review of the entire facility.

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ScoMo (PM) announces Royal Commission

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royal commission into aged care quality and safety

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Scott Morrison announces royal commission into aged care after string of scandals

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PM says abuse, neglect and failures can't be excused ahead of ABC Four Corners' investigation airing on Monday