"No longer feels like home"

I had not intended to respond to this survey but now feel compelled to following the resignation of yet another manager at Stretton Park. The continuing appointment of what I believe to be inadequately trained and/or experienced staff to this position and the constant turnover results in staff who: 1) do not know the facility or 2) do not know about aged care or 3) do not know the residents or sometimes all three.

I believe there is no continuity of care and standards have certainly dropped and definitely places resident well-being at risk, in my opinion.

Whilst appreciating that the staff that continue to work in the aged care setting do an exceptional job, the changes in staffing, personnel qualifications along with inexperience and inadequate staffing numbers has unfortunately led to the standard of care declining in my opinion. Shifts do not seem to have the required numbers of staff to provide adequate care and those that are on duty appear hard pressed trying to do their own work and also fill in where other areas are lacking staff.

We all appreciate the staff but I believe they cannot provide consistently high care as they are simply stretched too thin. We are concerned that despite their best efforts, I feel it is simply beyond their capabilities to provide the levels of care that they know is appropriate.

2) Based on my experience, a lack of qualified staff:

There have been and continue to be many occasions where senior staff members have had to come in to dispense medications as there was not a Division 1 Registered Nurse on shift. I feel not only is this concerning from a medication viewpoint, I feel it is also concerning in regards to knowledge and experience.

Residents and relatives should be confident that they will be expertly and knowledgeably cared for. When PCAs or enrolled nurses observe changes in a resident’s behaviour or health, they are trained to report these changes to a registered nurse. If there is no registered nurse on site, I believe residents may not receive timely treatment when their condition changes and this can have long term implications.

It is deeply concerning that residents do not have consistent access to care from a registered nurse, and we believe our relatives deserve better than this.

I believe that changes to Diversional Therapists, (qualifications, experience and hours) have all impacted on what is provided to and for the residents. Another example of where a staff member has to do their job but still has to help with meals/deliver water jugs etc. It seems someone or something misses out - usually the residents.

In previous times there has been a joyful atmosphere in Stretton Park, something that you palpably felt when you walked in, there were lots of resident & family gatherings and outings. This has all but disappeared and I feel it cannot all be blamed on Covid. It appears it is simply no longer a priority.

3) Apparent poor communication:

Until recently, families have received a monthly phone call from the RN on duty to keep us updated and to discuss our loved one's care and/or any concerns they or we have. This made us, as family, feel like staff cared about and took an active interest in how best to care for our relatives and we felt we could approach them if we had concerns. Recently parent has had a health issue that I have now found out has been ongoing for more than a couple of months yet I was not informed. Firstly, as a courtesy I feel I should have been notified and secondly being legally responsible for them means there was a duty of care to inform me.

Needless to say our confidence in the level of care being provided is being eroded a little more every day.

4) Residents’ interests seem to not be supported

Furthermore, since admission (years ago) my parent and several other residents have maintained small garden beds and tended to community vegetable patches which has helped them to maintain mobility, their cognitive abilities and also promoted strong social interactions. They used to gather vegetables from the garden and then with assistance from the Diversional Therapist, as a group they would prepare a vegetable soup & then share it.

Limited access to a gardener has become the norm over the past few years and sadly the gardens have become neglected. Since the renovations have begun some gardens have been removed altogether, sprinklers have been disconnected leading to loss of plants in gardens and entire gardens I believe causing great emotional distress to the affected residents. I feel it could have and should have been avoided.

When I chose Stretton Park as a place for my parent to call home as it truly felt like it. It was well staffed, the staff were all friendly, helpful and truly loved what they were doing. The meals were cooked on site and residents had the ability to ask for something different from the menu - nothing was too much trouble. Tea & toast is no longer a staple yet the residents are all of an age where that's all they really want for breakfast. I feel that no one wants to eat reheated frozen meals everyday regardless of whatever nutrition qualities you may wish to assign to that method of cooking.

When people can no longer care for themselves at home we say it is best for them to move into care. We encourage them to surrender their independence and to trust where they are now living. It is sad when they feel that their wishes and desires don’t matter and that they are not considered important.

I believe these issues are ongoing and should not be ignored. It is an unfortunate fact that all care homes are short staffed but that does not make it right nor acceptable. We owe our elderly better care than what they are receiving in my opinion.

My parent feels that they hardly know anyone anymore due to the turnover of staff and they do not feel like a valued part of the community anymore.

I feel great sorrow that my parent says that Stretton Park is where they live but it no longer feels like their home.