Exclusive. Carol Altmann – The Terrier.

More than a dozen local GPs have signed a powerful letter to the Lyndoch Living board, calling for action on the “detrimental” impact to the health of current and former staff.

In an unprecedented move, GPs from across at least three separate Warrnambool clinics have asked the board to deal with the “serious situation” affecting both residential care and staff wellbeing.

To protect the individuals, I am not going to disclose the names of the signatories, but they include extremely experienced and respected GPs.

Here is the letter in full:

“We the undersigned general practitioners have taken the extraordinary step to write this letter to you to voice our concerns about the current situation at Lyndoch Living.

Over a period of many years Lyndoch has provided high level care to our residents and in large part this has been due to the input of the very dedicated, skilful long- term staff members.

We are aware that a large number of experienced staff, in both clinical and non-clinical areas have resigned and left Lyndoch in the last number of months. This includes several experienced unit managers and the previous Director of Nursing.

We are aware that a number of these ex-staff members have attended GPs for issues relating to their previous workplace experience.

We have also noted that the loss of so many experienced long- term staff has created extra pressure on the remaining staff and has negatively affected the level of patient care at Lyndoch.

We write as a group of local GP’s very concerned about the effects of this on the existing residents and remaining staff but also with significant concerns about detrimental health issues that have arisen in some of the staff members that have left.

We would ask you direct your attention to this serious situation as soon as timely possible.”

The letter was delivered to the Lyndoch Living board yesterday, after being circulated among local clinics in recent weeks to gather signatures.

The letter pulls no punches and forces the board to look at a critical and shocking part of this whole crisis: staff trauma.

While residents’ care is quite rightly a priority, so many staff have also suffered terribly at Lyndoch these past seven years.

As the GPs now make clear, they have been treating former and current Lyndoch staff for “detrimental health issues” directly connected to their working at Lyndoch Living.

I know these stories, because I have spoken to so many of these people – literally dozens over these past four years – including those who felt suicidal, those who suffer severe anxiety, or panic attacks, those who have been unable to work since, and those who still require medication to sleep, due to the trauma they experienced.

This is shameful.

What is unforgivable, however, is that the board knew staff were suffering.

They knew, and they continued to back the “on-leave” CEO Doreen Power until the very last.

The board knew, because it saw the staff survey results from January 2020 –  more than two years ago – that contained this damning paragraph:

“A small sample of around 10-15 respondents stated that the CEO’s culture of intimidation, manipulation and bullying greatly impacted their safety, health and wellbeing.

“They said they witnessed her bullying others and making decisions in regard to her own self-interests and not the organisation as a whole.”

The board read it and did nothing.

The board knew because it read exit interviews and letters from some of these former staff, but, until three weeks ago, continued to back the former CEO.

This is absolutely shameful.

More than 200 staff, including so many experienced hands, have poured out of Lyndoch these past two years and the flow-on has been catastrophic.

Survivors of abuse will understand that trauma is compounded by not being believed, by being ignored, and by having nowhere to turn other than to the abuser.

This is the Lyndoch story under Ms Power, who has a track record in this appalling behaviour, and who the board chose to believe above the poor, suffering staff.

Lyndoch needs to heal and this cannot happen under a board which has overseen so much pain.

At the very least, the Chair should accept full responsibility and resign.

The rest of the board must follow. Open up general memberships, call for board nominations, and, to quote Oliver Cromwell: ” In the name of God, go.”

[The petition to remove the Lyndoch board is open until 31 August. https://tinyurl.com/3nwac5nc You can download a physical copy here: https://tinyurl.com/2p9xd8x7]

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

The plot thickens around the departure of the Lyndoch Living CEO, Doreen Power, with speculation that Ms Power’s sudden exit up the Princes Highway is linked to financial issues surrounding Lyndoch that are now under investigation.

I’ve spent the past nine days digging into exactly why the axe fell so quickly on the CEO last Thursday week (Aug 4) after years of allegations about Ms Power’s management style fell on deaf ears and the Lyndoch board continued to back her to the hilt.

As was reported here, Ms Power was confronted by board chair Sue Cassidy and treasurer Kane Grant and, soon after, left her office armed with two bags of belongings.

As was also reported here, the day before Ms Power left, WorkSafe had received a long list of complaints about Lyndoch lodged by a law firm on behalf of the complainants.

This could have been the final blow.

But no.

I have since learned there is mounting concern about Lyndoch’s financial position, including whether information relied upon to build Lyndoch’s financial picture has been accurate.

These concerns include:

the financial impact of changes to the payment system for home care packages, with Lyndoch no longer having access to a big pot of home care funds ($2.5 million as of March 2021) that sat in its bank account;

whether this big pot of funds for home care packages was used to pay for other services – say, for example, toward the new medical clinic – in the hope it could be later topped up by home care clients (a Ponzi-style approach);

the financial impact of much greater competition in home care packages, which has gouged Lyndoch’s home client list;

the financial impact of having between 50 and 55 empty beds across Lyndoch and May Noonan Hostel – unprecedented;

concerns about the impact of rising interest rates on the $12 million borrowed by Lyndoch to fund its new $22m medical clinic;

concerns about the financial impact of having five apartments for sale in the Waterfront Living complex;

the difficulty of selling these apartments amid concerns about the deteriorating condition of their exteriors;

concerns Lyndoch must legally pay out the owners and/or estate of these apartments after a certain time, regardless of whether the apartment has sold;

concerns raised by residents within Waterfront Living about the location and use of their annual maintenance fee/sinking fund.

That’s a lot to take in, but it all comes down to cash flow: what Lyndoch expected to bring in, what it has to pay out.

And the terrible possibility facing the Lyndoch board is that all is not what it seemed.

Two important things to say here:

First is that residential accommodation bonds are guaranteed by the Federal Government, so – regardless of where this ends – these are protected by law and residents and their families can take comfort they are not at risk of losing their money.

Second is that the resignation of the most recent Chief Financial Officer was clearly yet another warning bell.

In fact four Chief Financial Officers leaving in four years is not just a warning bell, but a big loud hooter that wakes everyone in the night.

If what I am being told now is correct, and I believe it is, then what we have always feared is coming to pass.

We tried to warn the board and they didn’t listen.

Collectively, this house-of-cards scenario was raised more than 18 months ago on this page, by the Terrier, then by former Chief Financial officer Allan Conway, and then by the Keep Lyndoch Living group which formed because of unanswered questions over Lyndoch’s finances.

Mr Conway set the alarm bells off, but nobody listened.

The Keep Lyndoch Living team led by Jim Burke and Prof James Dunbar tried to raise the alarm, but nobody listened.

And The Terrier – 162 stories later – tried to raise the alarm, and nobody with the power to act, listened.

But the board is listening now and so it must, because they are responsible for not asking the hard questions.

It is now incumbent upon the board chair Sue Cassidy and treasurer Kane Grant to step up and tell us what is going on.

They need to assure the community that all is well, that none of what I have raised here is correct, that Lyndoch’s finances are exactly as they should be, and that Ms Power is on annual leave because she decided to take a holiday to Port Douglas.

Now is the time for plain speaking, not bullshite about annual leave.

Now is the time for absolute, rock solid, honest truth.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

I received this letter from a resident’s family member last week, before Lyndoch Living CEO Doreen Power was stood down.

It’s only now I can publish this letter, without the threat of litigation from Ms Power.

THIS is why residents and families have been frightened to speak up.

And this is the toxic culture that the Lyndoch Living board has ignored and enabled.

Did the board know about this elder abuse by Ms Power? It should have – it’s legally responsible for resident safety.

And if it did know, why did it not apologise and immediately take action against Ms Power?

Ms Power, the board and all of the toxic enablers of this disgraceful chapter in Lyndoch’s history have to go.

Here is the letter:

“My mother is a victim of bullying by Doreen Power- one of many I gather.

My mother wrote a letter for the resident’s suggestion box on the 16th of May this year. I have a copy of the letter on my phone. It basically was a plea for more staff, and how unhappy Lyndoch is to live in.

My mother was escorted to Doreen’s office a couple of days after writing her letter. Mum had no idea why she was taken to the office.

Once she got into the office, Doreen was there with another staff member.

Mum was told in no uncertain terms that the letter had offended Doreen, because she thought that she had a better relationship with Mum.

She pointed to a stack of letters on her desk and said that they were all complimentary letters, unlike Mums.

To add salt to the wound, Doreen asked Mum if ” she still wanted to live at Lyndoch”.

The fact that Mum did not have any advanced notice that she would be facing any fall out for her letter, plus Mum did not have an advocate go into the office with her, is a disgrace.

All the staff knew about the incident in days to come, and kept asking Mum if she was O.K.

Yes, I could have put a complaint into the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, plus maybe even to the Elder Rights Advocacy, but poor old Mum is living in fear of being dragged into the office to face Doreen again.

And, to make matters even more severe, she has had many sleepless nights of worrying that she is going to be told to leave.

My mother has been living in Lyndoch for [edited]. I would like to see Doreen and her support group to face their own music and stop picking on defenceless old people.”

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

The crisis around Lyndoch Living continues to deepen.

The following is a statement from the former Chair of Plenty Valley Community Health, Marcia O’Neill, where the CEO of Lyndoch Living Doreen Power worked briefly before being employed by Lyndoch.

Ms O’Neill has called upon the Lyndoch board to resign, and for an administrator to be appointed urgently.

Ms O’Neill is an experienced director and board chair, and a Fellow Certified Practicing Accountant, (FCPA) which recognises global experts in the field of accounting and business. When people the calibre of Ms O’Neill say the Lyndoch board must go, it must go:

“I respect and thank Percy Eccles for his courage in speaking up and I certainly understand his fear from past experiences in dealing with Ms Power when I was Chair of Plenty Valley Community Health (PVCH).

I see history repeating at Lyndoch Living, it’s not the first time, however in this frightful case the damage has been prolonged and action by the Board seriously lacking.

Fortunately, there has been tenacious reporting – which was courageous in the face of threats of litigation – providing some transparency by a local journalist which has documented the issues, decline and terrible harm being perpetrated at Lyndoch Living.

This reporting incurred threats of litigation personally against The Terrier and it remains to be seen if this was financed by Lyndoch Living.

Further, I believe Percy Eccles’ comments about the Boards’ relationship with the CEO, the comments ring very true, and if so, there is a breach of Directors’ Duty. They should resign.

Ms Power’s time at PVCH was very short lived.

PVCH Board consisted of experienced professionals united by courage and integrity with a sound understanding of Directors’ Duties and Corporate Law, and expertise in Corporate Governance.

To my certain knowledge, the true events at PVCH were omitted from Ms Power’s application (to Lyndoch Living) and in the reference checks submitted by the recruitment agent. This too needs to be investigated.

The same search agent was involved when PVCH recruited Ms Power from Seymour.

This was before I became chair of the PVCH, but to my certain knowledge the true events of what happened at Seymour were also not presented to the selection panel.

Members hold board members accountable and Lyndoch’s exclusion of general members means there is no recourse or method of accountability unless the regulator steps in and appoints an administrator.

In this case, it’s urgent.

Companies Limited By Guarantee take millions in Federal and State funding and must be held to account.

Sadly, I understand from experience that there will likely be quite protracted and expensive proceedings ensuing, and my thoughts are with the present and past staff and the residents and families of Lyndoch Living and the people of Warrnambool.”

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Former Lyndoch Living board member Percy Eccles has called for the entire board to “consider their positions” in the face of rising pressure for them to resign.

Mr Eccles, who served on the board for almost 10 years before his resignation last year, was speaking after CEO Doreen Power was stood down last Thursday.

He said he believed the board was “led by the CEO” and that they followed her direction, rather than the reverse.

“If the information I have been reading (about the CEO being stood down) is correct, then it’s a very good day for Lyndoch,” he said.

“I call upon all of the board members to consider their positions, because it’s my belief that they were led by the CEO, rather than the CEO being led by the board.”

Mr Eccles said it was one of the greatest pleasures of his life when he served as a Lyndoch board member in the early years, but that this changed dramatically in recent years.

“As a board member for almost 10 years, it was one of the joys of my life to serve the people and the staff, especially when Lyndoch was under the leadership of former CEO Rhys Boyle,” he said.

“But in the few years prior to my resignation, I have never been more disappointed in the board’s direction,” Mr Eccles said.

Mr Eccles has been unable to speak publicly until now due to fears of legal action by the highly litigious CEO.

Following reports on The Terrier that the CEO has departed, however, Mr Eccles said he felt able to speak up.

While Mr Eccles could not comment on specific discussions within board meetings, it’s understood one of the many issues he pursued vigorously while on the board was a breakdown of how much was spent each year on lawyers and consultants.

A line-by-line breakdown was never provided.

[I have also attempted to obtain this breakdown, but the figures are exempt from Freedom of Information due to Lyndoch now being a quasi-private company.]

It’s widely known within Lyndoch, however, that a handful of highly paid consultants have been contracted multiple times for their services.

One of these includes a consultant who had an existing relationship with Lyndoch and was on the selection panel when the CEO was selected in 2014.

That particular consultant, who is not from Warrnambool, has since been employed multiple times and was a regular attendee at board meetings. It’s understood this consultant was paid $3000 a day.

It’s also known that, in recent years, Lyndoch changed its legal firm from a local based firm to a top law firm in Melbourne who, among other things, was paid by Lyndoch to launch personal defamation actions on behalf of the CEO and another corporate staff member.

Mr Eccles was also one of three board members on the selection panel when Ms Power was appointed in 2014.

Mr Eccles said he did not agree with the choice of Ms Power and made this known to the panel at the time.

When the other two board members decided Ms Power was the best applicant, however, he signed off on the appointment for the sake of cohesion.

Ms Power’s tenure has seen a dramatic decline in residential care at Lyndoch, largely due to a mass exodus of experienced staff, many of whom tried to speak up about the toxic culture that had developed.

The board did nothing in response to these concerns.

Lyndoch chair Sue Cassidy told media and staff Ms Power was on “annual leave” as of last Thursday. It’s still not clear exactly what prompted the board to suddenly stand Ms Power down.

Pressure is now mounting for the board to follow, with almost 2000 signatures in an online and offline petition that began before Ms Power’s departure.