
Three more Bupa homes fail quality standards audit
Three more Bupa nursing homes in NSW have failed quality audits, with one flunking every major standard.
The new Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has registered a "serious risk decision" against Bupa's Tamworth facility after the home fell short in all eight categories.
The commission found residents were not being treated with respect and too often were being restrained.
The adverse outcome against the Tamworth home is yet to be added to the commission's public register of serious risk decisions.

However, the most recent additions to the register include serious risk decisions against Bupa's Banora Point and Tumut facilities.
An audit at Banora Point found it had not met the standard for "managing high impact or high prevalence risks" and "identifying and responding to abuse and neglect of consumers".
Six of 33 people surveyed said they "do not receive personal and clinical care in accordance with their needs and preferences".

One woman resident reported she didn't "feel safe when another consumer comes into her room uninvited".
Despite failing to meet three of eight quality standards in the October 2019 audit, the home was re-accredited for three years.
The Tumut facility's re-accreditation was limited to 12 months after a September audit found it failed five of the eight standards.

It was not minimising the risk of infection, meals were not "varied and of suitable quality and quantity", and "significant feedback was given about the insufficiency of staff, that staff are busy and rushed and this impacts on the delivery of quality care and services".
"Management acknowledged difficulty in recruiting staff and registered nursing staff in particular," the audit found.

A Bupa spokesman said the risks identified at Banora Point and Tumut "were immediately addressed". He was unable to comment on Tamworth prior to deadline.
Findings against Bupa homes account for at least 19 per cent of all serious risk decisions, despite the company having just 3 per cent market share, according to IBISWorld.
Its Seaforth facility lost its accreditation in October.

That does not mean it has been forced to close, but it is no longer eligible to receive public funds. It has stopped taking new residents.
The Tamworth home's re-accreditation has been limited to six months.
