ELDERLY KICKED TO THE KERB
●Rest home residents in limbo ● GC Health, police step in
FRAIL elderly including some with dementia face rushed relocation and uncertain futures after their private facility was hit by a staff exodus yesterday.
Gold Coast Health had to step in and was last night working to provide care and alternative beds for up to 70 pensioners left in the lurch.
VULNERABLE elderly residents of a private Gold Coast nursing home face uncertain futures after being left without carers, food and medical supplies due to a staff exodus yesterday.
The state’s Gold Coast Health, police and ambulance paramedics rushed to Nerang’s Earle Haven Retirement Village aged-care wing in the afternoon and were relocating residents last night.
Earlier, just five staff were left to care for the 70 residents at the aged-care wing after a business dispute between the facility owner People Care and healthcare contractor Help-Street.
Residents, many of whom are bedridden or suffer acute dementia, face a rushed relocation from the private facility to other city aged-care beds.
Police had to use special powers to step in and relocate patients in the midst of the crisis yesterday.
In the meantime, government-funded Gold Coast Health set up a crisis unit at the home and had food and all medical supplies brought in plus doctors, nurses and social workers. Supplies were also purchased for this morning if residents remained overnight.
Two residents with medical conditions were taken to hospital as of 6pm last night.
A spokesman for Gold Coast Health said they were working closely with Queensland Ambulance Service into last night to ensure all of the residents were moved off site.
About 30 per cent are estimated to be immobile without assistance.
“We have a number of staff and ambulances on site for a medical response to ensure all residents are being cared for,” a Gold Coast Health spokeswoman said.
Residents in the Earle Haven independent living units are cared for by a separate provider and continue to receive care as normal.
The Bulletin understands the nursing home called triple-0 at 1.41pm to alert the Queensland Ambulance Service.
Queensland police were also called at the time in “relation to a disturbance” and heated meetings between Help-Street staff and People Care had taken place.
Staff on site told the Bulletin it was chaos and a number had offered to stay but claim they were told to leave. “QAS are managing the home to ensure the care of residents,” a staff member said.
“Employees were told they can’t be paid, we ourselves have not been paid so staff opted to leave.”
Family members of the residents had arrived to visit and were shocked to find the nearempty aged-care facility.
Other contractors had arrived on site to remove medical equipment which had to be replaced by Queensland Ambulance resources.
One woman said she saw all of the fridges removed.
Gold Coast Health has been working with family members of patients to ensure they are aware of the situation.
The Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union’s Bernadette O’Connor said staff jobs were up in the air and she had “never seen anything like it”.
“It’s a tragedy, it’s a symptom of a broken system, and yet again it’s the residents and the people caring for them who are the meat in the sandwich,” she said.
Health Minister Steven Miles said he had written to the Federal Government urging immediate action to find new accommodation for residents of the facility.