Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Lyndoch Living’s multi-million-dollar health clinic was due to open next month: it’s still an empty shell.

This is the three-level, 6761sq/m, $22 million (at least) health centre being built right next door to Lyndoch on Hopkins Rd.

This project will either be a white knight, or a white elephant. It could kill Lyndoch.

The whole project is a huge gamble and it’s one the board decided to take about five years ago, without any public consultation, when for the first time in Lyndoch’s history, it borrowed a bucketload of money – about $12 million – to fund this grand plan.

On top of the $12 million, Lyndoch has redirected another $10 million from its own funds (not including residential bonds, which is illegal) that would otherwise have gone toward aged care.

So that’s at least $22 million which has to be recouped by Lyndoch, plus any cost blow outs, plus interest, plus taxes, plus maintenance and repairs, before this building turns a profit.

The building was supposed to be finished by next month, or August at the latest.

As we could see during the 5 June rally, it’s nowhere near it.

And so the huge floor space – equal to about four Olympic swimming pools – is nowhere near being ready to start taking tenants.

Which brings us to the first of many questions:

What is the new finish date?

What are the inevitable extra costs due to delays and the rising cost of materials?

And – most importantly – how many tenants has Lyndoch secured for the space?

The board was hoping for a full royal flush of up to 20 GPs, a dentist, a radiologist, acute care staff, pathology, allied health services, a café, a chemist and education/training facilities.

God knows where they’re all coming from.

Perhaps Lyndoch has a secret stash of healthcare professionals tucked away that the rest of regional Victoria can’t access.

The Warrnambool Medical Clinic, which Lyndoch bought three years ago, has 14 (full and part time) GPs but those contracts recently expired, and it’s not known how many have signed up for another three years.

I’ve asked Lyndoch CEO Doreen Power and chair Sue Cassidy for comment on all of these questions, but, once again, have had no reply.

I have also not had a reply about the directorships of the medical clinic company (Lyndoch Healthcare Pty Ltd).

The company has four directors: Ms Power; Unisex Cuts hairdresser Ms Cassidy; board member and Warrnambool City Council manager Andrew Paton; and, more recently, Sue Fleming who was previously with South West Healthcare.

How were these directors chosen? Were these positions advertised? How long are they directors for?

And the big question that nobody seems to be able to answer: will they be paid?

Given the clinic is a commercial venture, (not a charity or not-for-profit), you would assume the answer is YES!

The best I could get from Mr Paton, some months ago, was that he was not being paid “for now” and that any other suggestion was “hypothetical”.

So Lyndoch continues to pretend it can do what it likes, even when the future of Lyndoch is at stake, but we are getting mighty sick of the game, and so is the new Federal Government.

As MP Anika Wells tweeted last night: “Accountability and transparency will be at the centre of all aged care reform under the Albanese Government”.

It can’t happen soon enough.

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

On Monday afternoon just gone, the hostel area of Lyndoch Living was allegedly operating with only one staff member to cover two wings, and another to cover one wing.

That is two people for around 41 residents, spread across three wings, from 2pm to 10pm.

These staff, according to my sources, were personal care workers.

There was, I am told, no Registered Nurse or Enrolled Nurse on duty for the afternoon shift because there was nobody available.

There was also nobody on duty in one wing of the hostel to serve dinner later in the day.

Residents in that wing were told that if they wanted dinner, they needed to go to another wing in the hostel which involved walking a considerable distance and down a ramp.

As a result, some residents did not have dinner.

In light of these allegations, I emailed Lyndoch Living for comment yesterday before writing this post tonight and asked this specific question:

“Are you able to comment on these allegations and, if correct, what is the cause of the staff shortages in the hostel area and what is being done to address them as Lyndoch moves toward reaccreditation in August?”

There was no reply.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Lyndoch Living has been in a mini lockdown to visitors for months – it still is – yet residents will this week be carted off to the Warrnambool May Races.

As we know, Lyndoch Living sponsors the main event, the Grand Annual Steeplechase, in what is one of the weirdest, inexplicable sponsorship deals between a not-for-profit, community owned, registered charity that services the aged…and a multi-million dollar gambling industry.

It’s almost as weird as Lyndoch being a major sponsor of the Hampden Football League alongside huge private, corporate entities like McDonald’s and Powercorp.

Anyone would think Lyndoch had money to burn, rather than running at a loss.

But I digress.

Yes, Lyndoch is off to the races, despite visitor restrictions at its homes which have been in place for months and which are still in place.

These restrictions prevent anyone from visiting a loved one (other than end of life care/compassionate care) except between the window of 10am and 2pm and only then by booking in advance.

Don’t turn up unannounced, even with your mask, vax certificate and RAT test – you will be turned away.

Children under 18 are still banned.

In fact until just before Anzac Day, 22 April, Lyndoch was only allowing two visitors, per resident per day, despite the State guidelines that have been in place since February allowing up to five.

The state guidelines don’t have time restrictions and they don’t ban children.

Lyndoch still does.

In fact Lyndoch is still urging visitors who can’t climb through their little 10am to 2pm time-slot to use social media, or a window visit, or an app, because heck, that is at least something, right?

You can’t hug your loved one or hold their soft, papery hand, but you can wave on Facetime: be grateful.

This leads us to a situation where kids and working people and busy people and people who forget or don’t know to book online are turned away from Lyndoch outside of visiting hours, yet Lyndoch is off to the races.

Why?

And how is it justified when such tight restrictions remain in place at Lyndoch itself and where staff shortages are still making basic care so difficult?

Of course there is the pleasure it will bring to those select residents who are fit enough to attend and who want to attend.

But in the absence of any explanation from Lyndoch (my emailed questions today went unanswered), I have a theory and it is this:

The corporate staff and any board members can’t possibly justify their attendance in the marquee to toast the Grand Annual on Thursday if at least some residents don’t get to sit in the same marquee for an hour or two on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I mean, how would it look?

As such, it’s absolutely predictable that we will see loads of photos on the Lyndoch Living Facebook page showing the delighted residents at the races – “free at last” – but will we see any snaps from inside the corporate tent on Thursday?

Hmmmm.

And will we see photos of the Lyndoch hierarchy presenting the sparkling winner’s trophy, sponsored on the back of staff shortages and cuts to the food budget?

I reckon the chances are 100/1.

Giddyup.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Update: Hello again and I have a bit of a Lyndoch Living update for you.

First, it’s slow going, but we are inching ever forward with our legal challenge against the Lyndoch board and its blanket rejection of people from becoming a member of Lyndoch.

The barrister we have hired for this challenge has been fully briefed by a local solicitor and now we wait to see if he thinks we have a case that can be taken to either the County or Supreme Court.

I am a Gemini, so patience is not a strength, but I am trying very hard to be patient while he decides whether the board has breached its responsibilities, both individually and collectively.

If he believes we have a case, then off we march toward court.

In the meantime, experienced care and nursing staff continue to leave Lyndoch and many are going to work for other aged care homes in and around Warrnambool.

They are not leaving the industry, they are leaving Lyndoch: what does that tell you?

Many of these staff don’t wish to leave Lyndoch and some are bereft at having to leave residents they have known for years, but they either feel they have no choice or have been given no choice. Again, what does that tell you?

Covid has had an impact on aged care everywhere, but it has nothing to do with this ongoing exodus at Lyndoch.

At the same time, I still receive, almost daily, distressing messages from family members of Lyndoch residents worried about their loved ones due to the staff shortages.

I have to be general here, not specific, as specific stories will identify those who are speaking up, so let me be general about these issues which range from basic care to simple comforts:

I am being told of residents not being showered as often as they should be, that incontinence pads aren’t being changed frequently enough, that the quality of the food has declined due to cost cutting, that residents can’t order an egg-on-toast for tea if it’s not on the menu, that meals from outside Lyndoch can no longer be brought in, that cooked breakfasts are down to once a month, that even two little dogs which used to come and visit residents to alleviate their loneliness are no longer allowed in.

Perhaps the little dogs have also been managed out.

Is it all true? I can only trust what these families tell me, as Lyndoch doesn’t ever respond to requests for comment, so I have given up trying. I trust the families.

Based on the past three years of pursuing this story, I don’t trust Lyndoch to tell the truth about what is going on inside.

Remember, Lyndoch last year failed to tell the public, or residents’ families, when it failed the national aged care standards. They found out from reading The Terrier.

As it happens, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission visited earlier this month for an unannounced, spot check on Lyndoch, which is currently ranked two out of four stars and in need of “significant improvements”. (Source: https://www.myagedcare.gov.au/find-a-provider/aged-care-homes/1238016)

Would you believe it, this “surprise” spot check coincided with the very first edition of the new Lyndoch newspaper!

What a coincidence.

This pithy publication landed on every resident’s bedside table just a couple of days before the inspectors arrived in the Lyndoch foyer.

The paper was bursting with good news, including Lyndoch apparently hiring 116 (!) new staff, including 11 Registered Nurses and 11 enrolled nurses, from overseas, interstate and around the south-west.

116 new staff! Really? I received a message this past week that began with these words: “Things are dire here today….”

This message came from Lyndoch and I can be no more specific than that, because the witch hunt is on for anyone who dares to contact The Terrier.

The witch hunt is on and it’s relentless, but ultimately useless, because people won’t be gagged.

The residents’ families will keep talking and worried staff will keep talking, and as long as this page can keep ticking along, there is always a portal for the truth to come out.

Thanks, as always, for being a part of it.