Carol Altmann – The Terrier

A week ago, hundreds of people gathered in the cold to stand up for Lyndoch Living and call upon the board to tell us what’s going on.

That call has fallen on deaf ears.

The only public comments from Lyndoch chair Sue Cassidy –  as reported by The Standard last Monday – completely side-stepped the string of concerns raised at the rally by local MPs, ex-staff and concerned members of the community.

Statements from Hon Roma Britnell, Hon Bev McArthur, Hon Dan Tehan, former Lyndoch CEO Rhys Boyle, Dr Michael McCluskey, Diane Riordon, Sandy Hockley, and one little terrier, all asked the board for one thing:

Full transparency.

The board, in response, has shrugged its shoulders and shown no sign of changing a thing.

This lack of transparency flies in the face of Lyndoch being a community asset for more than 70 years. 

And it flies in the face of Lyndoch being a registered charity that each year receives tens of millions of dollars from residents and taxpayers.

As one woman in the crowd said last week, “people sell their houses to go into Lyndoch”.

This lack of public accountability means we – the public – are being left in the dark by the board that is appointed to represent us.

So our questions remain: Why are so many Lyndoch staff leaving and going to work elsewhere in aged care?

Why are there so many shocking stories about declining residential care?

Why has Lyndoch cut off community memberships?

Is the $22 million (or whatever the cost is now) medical clinic financially sound?

Based on the report in The Standard, the only comment Ms Cassidy could offer was that the board are volunteers – which is irrelevant – and are community members – which is obvious.

The fact is that Lyndoch is now run like a private company and nobody outside of the tight, Lyndoch circle gets a look in.

The social contract between the board and the community has been completely broken.

As was made clear last Sunday, the community is agitated and people are worried.

People hold genuine concerns about Lyndoch’s financial future, its staffing, its management style, and, first and foremost, the daily care of our elderly citizens.

These concerns are based on fact: both Lyndoch Living nursing home and May Noonan Hostel in Terang are under threat of sanctions. We have no idea how these failings are being addressed and if Lyndoch is on track to be re-accredited in August.

The CEO, again in comments to The Standard, blamed the failings on tougher standards. If this is the case, why is Lyndoch the only aged care home in Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Camperdown, Mortlake and beyond to be failing?

And, as it stands, the $22 million new medical clinic is nowhere near being ready to open by next month, as planned.

This means delays, and most likely cost blowouts, but we have been told nothing.

The Lyndoch board can only ignore the community for so long.

From my standpoint, it’s now on notice.

It’s on notice from our MPs, who gave a public commitment to stand with us, and we are relying on Roma Britnell, Bev McArthur and Dan Tehan to follow through, strongly.

And it’s on notice from a groundswell of people from right across the community who are now speaking up and standing up to fight for Lyndoch, both up front and behind the scenes.

If we care about Lyndoch, we have to see this through and demand full transparency and a board that either connects with the community, or steps aside.

The future of our Lyndoch depends on it.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Tonight I can reveal that a group of Lyndoch staff tried to alert the Lyndoch board to a looming staff crisis more than a year ago, but was ignored.

An explosive letter has emerged that was written by a group of experienced staff to the Lyndoch board on 2 April 2020 – 18 months ago.

The letter was delivered to the board via a trusted intermediary, a Warrnambool GP.

Staff are forbidden under Lyndoch policy to approach the board directly, but the authors, who represented a cross-section of Lyndoch, clearly felt they had no choice.

“It is with grave concern that we feel compelled to formally address the Board of Directors of Lyndoch Living,” the letter begins.

“Our knowledge that this direct communication may lead to employment termination must also demonstrate the gravity of our actions and the reason we undertake this anonymously,” it says.

Between them, the letter says, the authors have more than 50 years experience in aged care and they came with a warning:

“Over the last four years we have seen a significant deterioration of staff morale, and poor and highly detrimental decision making…,” they write.

“This has resulted in a very poor culture, significant stress and distress among staff, sick leave and resignations”.

Let’s just stop there for a moment.

I wish I could publish the entire letter, but Lyndoch is too litigious for me to take that risk, so what follows is my edited version of what the authors outline as their issues of major concern, the alleged causes and the request for action.

The staff tell the board that they tried to raise their concerns through the normal channels, but have got nowhere.

In fact the situation only got worse.

“Unfortunately we have met with obstruction, denial or dismissal at each point,” they write.

Either a lack of action or consequences for speaking up, meant other staff remained silent, which led to more “inappropriate and detrimental behaviour”.

The authors say they turned to two politicians for help who were alarmed by their claims and urged the staff to contact the board directly.

So they did, via a letter that could not be more direct.

They urged the board to do a “fearless review” of Lyndoch Living that would include three things:

1. Engage an independent company to undertake a cultural staff survey. (The) previous cultural review was prepared for the law firm that represents Lyndoch Living.

2. Ensure that the recommendations within the independent survey are tabled, considered and actioned by the Board;

3. Engage an independent forensic accountant to review appropriate resident related expenditure and review the current investment portfolio and commitments in line with a not-for-profit culture.

And at the end of the letter came the kicker.

The authors offered to meet with the board, to show their faces, and to step away from anonymity.

They would do this, they said, provided they could be protected from any threat to their jobs, and assured confidentiality.

This is huge.

Anybody who knows a Lyndoch worker who wants to speak up, but doesn’t, knows that the number one reason given is fear of being targeted, or losing their job.

The courageous staff behind this letter swallowed that fear because they believed if they did nothing, the situation would only deteriorate.

They decided to trust the board.

So they wrote their letter, they had it delivered via the GP and they waited for a response via the same intermediary.

And nothing happened.

They didn’t get a reply, much less an invitation to come and talk with the board in confidence.

I know the board received the letter and I know it was discussed, but it went no further.

The board stayed silent.

And the brave staff, their hearts swollen with disbelief and disappointment, felt that they were entirely on their own. They retreated back into the shadows and got on with caring for the elderly and vulnerable residents of Lyndoch.

That was 18 months ago.

I don’t know what has happened to the staff who wrote this letter, but their predicted catastrophe has come to pass.

The steady loss of experienced and dedicated staff from right across Lyndoch over the past five years has, in recent weeks, become a flood.

And still the board says, and does, nothing.

* Board members Percy Eccles and Suzanne Coulson resigned in March and May of this year. They have not been replaced.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Even South West MP Roma Britnell can’t get straight answers from the Lyndoch Living board.

The board has given short shrift to Ms Britnell’s recent questions about its blanket rejection of 115 membership applications from the community.

Its fulsome response to Ms Britnell was, wait for it, that it was “acting within the Lyndoch constitution.

End of conversation.

Ms Britnell was told nothing more.

At least the board is even handed when it comes to answering questions: it ignores everyone.

Ms Britnell, like the rest of us, learned nothing about why the applications were rejected, the criteria used, or the process followed.

We can only surmise, therefore, that there was no process or selection criteria.

It doesn’t matter that Ms Britnell, a State MP and our elected representative, was asking questions on behalf of her local constituents.

She was given zero from the board that, in theory, is also supposed to represent the community.

So if Ms Britnell can’t get an answer, what hope does someone like Warrnambool resident Margy Jackson have?

Margy, a retired school teacher, recently wrote to Lyndoch chair Sue Cassidy expressing her concerns about Lyndoch and the cutting out of the community.

Margy has had no response.

Former Deakin Professor James Dunbar and retired naval officer Jim Burke wrote to the board some months ago expressing their concerns about the viability of the $22m medical clinic being built at Lyndoch.

They have had no response.

It appears that the current board of seven volunteers – Ms Cassidy, Kane Grant, Andrew Paton, Kerry Nelson, Prof Rob Wallis, Lorraine Mielnik and Ron Page – has decided they are answerable only to themselves and the CEO.

Have they lost sight of who built and supported Lyndoch for so many decades?

Why else would the board agree to turn its back on their own community?

And why would these remaining board members (Percy Eccles and Suzanne Coulson quit earlier this year) want to be a part of such a closed shop?

Only they can answer that question.

I don’t expect any answers soon, but with Lyndoch’s staff and residential care – its core business – suffering under the board’s watch, the questions will only keep coming.

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

Lyndoch Living’s failure to care for the elderly and frail was kept under wraps for more than a year, during which things didn’t improve –  but got worse.

That little bombshell was wrapped up in MP Dan Tehan’s media statement issued in response to The Terrier exclusive on Tuesday night.

Mr Tehan said the nation’s top aged care watchdog visited Lyndoch in response to a complaint way back in February LAST year.

As a result, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission slapped Lyndoch with a non-compliance order for Personal and Clinical Care (aka, the very reason an aged care home exists).

Never fear, Lyndoch assured the commission at the time, they had a plan!

Fast forward 12 months to January 2021 and the commission re-visited Lyndoch to find the situation was not better, but far worse.

How is that allowed to happen?

As revealed exclusively here on Tuesday night, Lyndoch failed not one, but three out of four standards, including using chemical restraint without consent, and failing to appropriately monitor residents after serious falls.

And when it came to staffing, the commission could not have been more blunt: “(Lyndoch had) not ensured the delivery of safe care and services”.

If Lyndoch can’t get this right, what is it there for? To sponsor golf and horse racing?

Lyndoch’s three-year accreditation comes around again in August.

Lyndoch told the paper (it doesn’t respond to The Terrier) that it has an “action plan”, none of which has been detailed or publicly costed.

There is no mention of it on its website.

Once again, we are kept in the dark by a board and Lyndoch executive who are failing to deliver Lyndoch’s core business.

If The Terrier had not been tipped off about this latest report, nobody would know a thing about any of this.

“This” is the neglect that follows as a natural consequence of our nursing home not having enough staff, not having enough qualified staff, getting rid of experienced staff, and staff quitting because they are physically and emotionally exhausted.

At least 120 people have left Lyndoch in recent years, from very experienced and senior operators, down to those who only lasted a year or two.

These are the ever-growing band of alumni dismissed by Lyndoch as “disgruntled workers”, when in fact they are soldiers returned from the battlefield with warnings of what lies over the horizon.

“This” is a consequence of changing priorities where Lyndoch will overload itself with executives, but can’t fix the nurse call-bell system that is still unreliable.

“This” is a culture that will happily see Lyndoch go into massive debt for a new $24 million medical clinic based on an invisible business plan, rather than hiring more hands and hearts on the ground.

This is not the fault of the nursing and care staff: the moral collapse starts with the executive and board who set Lyndoch’s vision and priorities.

Don’t just take my word for it.

Take it from former Lyndoch Director of Nursing Penny Iddon who wrote this on the Terrier Facebook page after the breaking story:

“Poor standards of care are a direct result of poor and inadequate management oversight.

“The Board, the CEO and the senior nursing staff must take responsibility for this appalling result. The Board can no longer bury their heads in the sand and the CEO can’t keep passing the buck.

“After all, what the Auditors reported on regarding poor and outdated care practices has been allowed to continue under their watch which indicates a clear breakdown of systems, protocols and values.”

We have now seen in stark detail this week how Lyndoch is breaking down.

It has broken down in its duty of care.

And there are fears if the medical clinic goes ahead at the scale which is planned, it will break down financially.

How ironic, then, to see the Lyndoch CEO listed among the guest speakers jetting off to at an aged care forum next month in Sydney.

The topic?

Attracting and retaining new talent to revitalise your workforce.