If Bupa Eden nursing home loses it's accreditation on August 16, the organisation will not only lose Commonwealth funding it will be obliged to return the balance of the nursing home bonds to the remaining residents.
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Under the terms of the Aged Care Act if the home ceases to be an approved provider in respect of residential care or flexible care service the accommodation bond balance must be refunded to the care recipient.
Following an audit by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on March 13-14 Bupa Eden was found to meet only 14 of 44 accreditation standards. The Commission made a decision on April 16 to revoke accreditation and the period of accreditation of the service will expire on August 16.
"A residential aged care service which is not accredited is ineligible to receive any Commonwealth subsidy for providing care and services to aged care consumers," a commission spokesperson said.
However Bupa said it was working hard to meet the standards and would operate after August even if Commonwealth funding was cut.
Bupa sincerely apologises to our Eden residents and their families.
- BUPA spokesman
"Bupa has been notified accreditation will be revoked from August 16 unless conditions outlined by the [commission] are met. Bupa will continue to operate our Eden home beyond August 16," a Bupa spokesman said.
He declined to comment on how the the aged care provider would be funded after this time.
Findings published on the Myagedcare website outline the facility has continued to fail to meet standards in key areas.
These include management systems, staffing and organisational development as well as health and personal care.
That is a spectacular failing in meeting standards and it is a huge concern if they propose continuing to operate after August 16.
- Paul Versteege, Combined Pensioners & Superannuants Association of NSW
Bupa currently has sanctions listed against 10 of its facilities on the MyAgedCare website and non-compliance notices against a further three.
Policy manager at the CPSA (Combined Pensioners & Superannuants Association of NSW Inc) Paul Versteege said that over the course of a year the Eden facility had gone from failing to meet eight standards to 22 and most recently failing 30, out of 44 standards.
"That is a spectacular failing in meeting standards and it is a huge concern if they propose continuing to operate after August 16", Mr Versteege said.
"Never before have we seen the loss of accreditation by a big player like Bupa. It could be addressed by onselling but I don't think Bupa can afford to lose face," Mr Versteege said
There are believed to be 58 residents currently in the facility that has capacity for 85.
A Bupa spokesman acknowledged the matters were very serious. "We won't walk away from the work that needs to be done, we have done a lot already, but we know there is more that needs to be done. We are recruiting and training more staff, and reviewing care plans and general operations," he said.
Bupa bought the facility in late 2012 from Innovative Care. It was one of 10 homes built and owned by Innovative Care that Bupa purchased.
Innovative Care approached local providers at the time to see whether they were interested.
