Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Warrnambool has two choices. It can accept that the community has been cut out of Lyndoch, or it can fight back.

Warrnambool vet Dr Michael McCluskey is among those now doing the latter.

Dr McCluskey is challenging the rejection of his membership application to Lyndoch Living on the grounds of discrimination.

Dr McCluskey lodged a complaint with VCAT today, arguing that the decision by the Lyndoch board was illegal under the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act.

“The only information that can be filled out on the Lyndoch membership form is my name and address,” Dr McCluskey said.

“There was no request from Lyndoch for any further information from me.

“Given this, the Lyndoch board could only have rejected me on the basis of my name and my gender, because they know nothing else about me, my background, or my qualifications, or interests.”

A very good point, because if the Lyndoch board had bothered to find out more about Dr McCluskey, they would have discovered the following:

He holds a University degree with Honours in the field of biological sciences (Bachelor of Veterinary Science);

Extra post graduate University level study with multiple units in the fields of psychology, law and economics;

Five years as Director of Finance on Board of Management at a local community sporting organisation handling a multi-million dollar annual turnover;

More than six years as both volunteer and member of committee of management of  Warrnambool Riding for Disabled;

Is a current member and also serving on committee of management of Water for East Timor, a locally-based charity that is overseas focussed.

Dr McCluskey didn’t apply for membership to Lyndoch as part of the recent community membership drive – he applied several months earlier.

He is now among a long list of community minded souls who have had their applications flatly rejected.

This means everyone who applied is also automatically ruled out of nominating for the board at the AGM on 26 October, as only members can apply.

Having read that 115 people from across the community were rejected last month, Dr McCluskey decided it was time to push back.

“I’m hoping this can become a test case on behalf of the community,” he says, “and that VCAT will at least decide that Lyndoch has a case to answer”.

He hopes others will be encouraged to follow his lead, particularly as the VCAT application is free of charge due to the issue falling under the Equal Opportunity Act.

Lyndoch Living has used the “no reason” clause in its Constitution to dismiss every single membership application from the general public these past two years.

Those who have tried these past two years include now Mayor Vicki Jellie, AM, senior SWHC nurse Kate Sloan, aged care expert Janet Dunn, leading local businesswomen Natalie Stevens and Marie Bird, the inaugural Director of the Greater Green Triangle University Department of Rural Health, Professor James Dunbar, educator and MPower board member Helen Bayne, former Lyndoch senior nurse Tracey Dean, educators Tina Reilly and Claire Bishop, retirees in Lyndoch’s Waterfront Living apartments, and dozens of locals who care about Lyndoch as a much-loved community asset.

All were bumped by the board without reason.

But a “no reason” clause can be fragile, as WCC CEO Peter Schneider proved with his Supreme Court case.

No doubt the Lyndoch board, Sue Cassidy (hairdresser/salon owner), vice chair Kerry Nelson (ex MPower CEO), treasurer Kane Grant (Sinclair&Wilson), retired Deakin academics Lorraine Mielnik and Prof Rob Wallis, Ron Page (dairy industry) and WCC director Andrew Paton hope the community will just accept it.

In my opinion, the board’s loyalty is to the CEO. It is not to the wider community.

Those prepared to push back, however, are loyal to the spirit of Lyndoch, to its vulnerable residents who must be its first priority, and to the increasingly exhausted staff who care for them.

Dr McCluskey has cast another stone in what has become a David and Goliath battle. We shall see where it lands.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Tonight, a message to the Lyndoch board from the front line: help.

This entire Lyndoch campaign by The Terrier has had one simple motivation, which is to expect the best of care for our elderly and vulnerable residents.

That must be the priority.

But Lyndoch is drowning.

I have written so much about this, I have shown you so many photographs of the shift shortages, like the one above, and now we are in uncharted territory.

Because Lyndoch, for the first time and unlike any other nursing home in Warrnambool, is facing sanctions unless it gets its act together after failing care standards set by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

And it’s facing this battle while suffering acute staff shortages and losing more senior staff in one sweep than, I would argue, at any time in its 60 year history.

In the past four weeks the Director of Nursing has gone. The head of May Noonan Hostel in Terang has gone.

At least one nurse unit manager has resigned.

And another two, experienced senior staff last week joined the growing list of those taking extended sick or stress leave. There will be more.

Between them, these individuals have decades of nursing experience that is not easily replaced.

Some Registered Nurses are working double shifts, with the second shift overnight when they are the only RN in the entire Lyndoch complex.

They are tired.

Other care staff are “top and tailing” – starting their shifts two hours early, or finishing two to three hours late, just to help cover the gaps.

Everybody I have contact with is exhausted or upset, but they keep pressing on because they care deeply for the residents.

I could write reams, based on the cries for help that come in each week from Lyndoch staff.

But instead I will convey the message of just one person who summed it all up.

This person has never contacted The Terrier before, but they are someone you need to hear, and we recently spoke for an hour.

They could no longer stay silent, they said, after reading that highly experienced SWHC nurse Kate Sloan had her membership application rejected by the board.

This, they said, proved the board was not listening.

It was not listening to the care staff who have been trying to hold it all together in the hope of change.

Staff have tried to raise their concerns, but if they speak up publicly, comment on this page, or approach the board directly, they are disciplined. (Test: see how many Lyndoch nursing staff comment on this post.)

Lyndoch staff surveys have come and gone.

Secret meetings between Lyndoch staff and local MPs have come and gone.

Senior staff have raised warnings in exit interviews and, in some cases, been brutally direct about an individual who cannot be named for legal reasons.

And little changes, other than staff continue to leave, the deck chairs are shuffled, and the gaps keep getting bigger.

I asked this person at the end of our long conversation what message they wanted to pass on to the Lyndoch Living board:

“I want the public and the board to know that the situation is every bit as bad as what it is.

“The staffing situation has become diabolical…the shortages are near impossible to deal with. What you are saying, it’s happening, it’s telling it like it is.

“The board need to get a sense of the immense pressure the staff are under so please, listen, come down and speak to the staff directly. Please be interested in what is actually going on.”

This begs a question, does the Lyndoch board know what is going on?

Chair Sue Cassidy (Unisexcuts), Vice Chair Kerry Nelson (ex MPower CEO), Treasurer Kane Grant (Sinclair&Wilson), Prof Rob Wallis, Lorraine Mielnik, Ron Page, Andrew Paton (WCC) – do you ask? Are you told? Have you ever met with the non-executive staff?

All good questions for the AGM on 26 October which Kate Sloan, had she been accepted as a member, could have asked, and that is precisely why she wasn’t.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

South West MP Roma Britnell has asked Lyndoch for an explanation as to why every single membership application from 115 lodged this month was rejected.

“I’ve had contact from a number of people about this issue,” Ms Britnell said.

“I understand that Lyndoch, as a community established and owned service, holds a special place in the heart of the Warrnambool and south west community and I am aware of concerns that some people have raised.

“As such I have made contact with Lyndoch Living asking for advice on the application process and why applications may be rejected.”

Lyndoch is not always rapid in its responses to Ms Britnell, but we can only hope she receives a fulsome answer shortly.

Ms Britnell’s views are shared by other community leaders, including Member for Western Victoria Bev McArthur.

Ms McArthur said she was concerned that so many membership applications had been rejected and “would like to understand why this has happened”. 

“As a community organisation, openness and accessibility to residents should be a high priority,” she said.

“Many of the membership applicants were highly qualified and motivated, and could surely have brought great energy and expertise to Lyndoch.”

Ms McArthur said the current members of Lyndoch should be on the public record, and the criteria for the application process properly explained.

“The existing situation seems needlessly secretive, and does nothing to cement the vital community link.

“I call upon Lyndoch Living to live up to its position as a community asset, and be more open and engaging in matters of ordinary membership, board membership, and AGM participation.”

Wannon MP Dan Tehan was less direct, but said the Federal Government expected “approved providers to select board members with relevant skills and expertise” to ensure “quality of care for senior Australians is prioritised and maintained.”

A good point, Mr Tehan, because as is stands, there is nobody on the Lyndoch board with experience in aged care.

Mayor Vicki Jellie and four other Warrnambool City councillors responded to a request for comment, with each speaking personally rather than on behalf of the council.

Mayor Jellie said Lyndoch Living was a valued and much loved local community facility that was “extremely important to us all”.

“As a community member, I would like to see diversity in the membership of our local community organisations to support strong, effective leadership and oversight.

“I acknowledge and commend all of those within the community who put forward applications to become Lyndoch members.”

Cr Ben Blain said “it would be good to see some new local faces on the board that represent the community” –  a view also shared by Cr Debbie Arnott.

“Lyndoch is a community owned facility and its board and membership should reflect that…I do feel it might be good to see some new faces on the board,” Cr Arnott said.

Cr Angie Paspaliaris said she believed that any community owned organisation should “seek to be as transparent, engaged and communicative as possible with the community they are there to serve.”

“There are many experienced, extremely well qualified people in Warrnambool who would be great members and contributors to the operation of our local aged care facility,” Cr Paspaliaris said.

Lastly, Cr Max Taylor said it was only “logical and permissible” that people from the community be allowed to become members of Lyndoch, and – if they so desired – to nominate for the board.

“I am sure that one of the original Board Presidents for many years in Stan Berlyn would most certainly permit this process,” Cr Taylor said.

The next Lyndoch AGM is on 26 October. Board nominations close on 12 October, but given there are no new members (that we know of), I don’t know who will be nominating for the two board vacancies left by Percy Eccles and Susanne Coulson.

We shall see.See you Sunday.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

My final profile from the roll call of the rejected. This is Claire Macrae Drylie and her late aunt Gwen McKellar.

In the 1960s, Gwen, or Mate as she was called by family, sorted out the pay packets for Lyndoch staff each week for free.

But now her niece Claire, who has lived in Warrnambool for more than 40 years, is among the 115 people whose membership application to Lyndoch was rejected without reason.

It doesn’t matter a squit that her aunt Mate was one of the many, many people who Lyndoch once relied upon to survive.

Claire is the final person from the long roll call of rejections that I will profile here, and I have chosen her story because it captures the community spirit that sustained Lyndoch for decades.

When Lyndoch was still in its infancy, Mate volunteered her time each week to “do the pays” for the Lyndoch staff, working from the kitchen table in her home in Henna St.

At the time, Mate was working as a secretary and raising two young children, Margie and Andrew, with her husband Colin.

But still she found time each week for her Lyndoch work.

Claire remembers the “pay days” as something like this:

“Mate sitting at a 1960s Laminex table (yellow) with a stack of cash and Lyndoch envelopes, with my sister Annie and I ‘helping’.

“Margie and Andy could be crying in the background because they are hungry, but Mate always put the needs of her community, ie. Lyndoch, first.

“And that’s how Lyndoch was born, on the sweat of ordinary people like Mate.”

Claire has nailed it.

Lyndoch was born on the sweat of ordinary people like Mate.

The Lyndoch board, led by chair Sue Cassidy and vice chair Kerry Nelson, has now decided that these ordinary people are no longer welcome and membership is by invitation only.

They don’t want people like Mate. If Mate was alive and had applied, she would not have made it through.

Such is the new corporate Lyndoch, where residents are customers, and progress is measured in concrete.

It is a community owned asset that has no community members.

And nobody knows why.

Tomorrow night I will write the responses from our community leaders – MPs Dan Tehan, Roma Britnell, Bev McArthur, Mayor Vicki Jellie and the Warrnambool City Councillors – to the blanket rejection.

Thanks for hanging in here this week. On we go.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

This is Janet Dunn.

Janet is among the 115 people on the roll call of the rejected – those who have been denied membership to Lyndoch Living aged care.

If ever there was a case study of the absurdity of how the current Lyndoch board decides who becomes a member, it’s Janet, because Janet used to be a member.

In fact Janet worked at Lyndoch for 10 years as the Director of Community Services (1992-2001), during which time she developed and managed nine community programs from five offices across southwest Victoria.

Janet was also in charge of coordinating the initial accreditations for both the Lyndoch Nursing Home and Community Services, before her career took her to Melbourne.

Since leaving Lyndoch, Janet has managed several nursing homes –  both private and not-for-profit – and, unlike Lyndoch in recent months, has never failed any standards.

A quick look at Janet’s Linkedin profile reveals she has managed up to 300 staff, has in-depth knowledge of the aged care accreditation and funding systems, has worked on several state committees, including Ministerial Advisory Committees, and holds several post grad qualifications, including an MBA.

Oh my goodness.

Not only should Janet be a member of Lyndoch, she should be urged to nominate for the Lyndoch board at the AGM on 26 October.

The board, which has two vacancies and only one person with any nursing or aged care experience, needs people like Janet.

But while Janet has 30 years experience in aged care management, she is not able to become even a member of Lyndoch.

Why?

What is the criteria?

Did chair Sue Cassidy (Unisexcuts) and members Andrew Paton (WCC director), Kerry Nelson (former MPower CEO), Ron Page (dairy industry), Lorraine Milenik, Prof Rob Wallis and treasurer Kane Grant (Sinclair & Wilson), decide that because The Terrier was urging people to apply, that anyone who did apply was immediately ruled out?

Was that the criteria?

If so, what a wasted opportunity for Lyndoch to re-open its doors to the community, including to some extraordinary talent, like Janet, Marie Bird and Kate Sloan.

I have never met Janet and I only discovered her background after she commented on The Terrier Facebook page, but like the other 114 people, Janet’s application was dismissed without comment.

The board can do this under the Lyndoch Constitution and there is nothing, it seems, us mere mortals can do about it.

But surely it is wrong, so wrong, that a community owned asset can be controlled by a board that has no obligation, or desire, to explain itself.

Given this, I would like to see the whole board put up for re-election on 26 October.

Imagine that: a fresh start.

Lyndoch could then open up itself up to nominations from existing board members AND the general public, just like the “good old days” of three years ago.

It won’t happen, of course.

Why?

Because Lyndoch has shown it’s now fearful of any involvement or examination by the very community it was set up to serve.

How did it come to this?