Carol Altmann – The Terrier
This week will be a reckoning for aged care across Australia and I can hope it blows the lid right off what is a national disgrace.
We only have to look at our own neck of the woods to see how little official outrage there is to what should be unacceptable.
It’s more than two months since The Terrier revealed an outbreak of scabies within Lyndoch Living, our much-loved, community-owned aged care home in Warrnambool.
When whistleblowers revealed scabies in a Whyalla nursing home last November, A Current Affair and a South Australian MP were on the doorstep demanding answers.
It’s also more than a year since I wrote about staff tearing up sheets and towels to use as facewashers, and more money being spent on consultants and lawyers than on food for residents.
More than a year has passed since I revealed a family member of a resident was sleeping on the floor next to her mother for seven days because her mother had had a series of falls and there was not enough staff to keep an eye on her.
At the same time, Lyndoch senior staff, right up to the CEO, and senior board members, were attending the May Races.
It’s also a year since a leaked copy of a staff survey revealed serious allegations of bullying and intimidation at Lyndoch that went right to the very top.
It’s well over a year since I first wrote about the steady stream of staff who were leaving Lyndoch, sometimes after decades of service, because of alleged bullying, being “targeted”, or given little option to resign and – if they are lucky – given a payout to sweeten the blow. I call it “keep quiet” money.
Is that sort of thing still happening? Yes.Yes, it is.
It’s eight months since we learned two architects from Melbourne were visiting Lyndoch Living despite the “ring of steel” Covid-19 lockdown in that city.
Lyndoch denied they were even from Melbourne.
It’s 18 months since we learned that the community was no longer welcome to become members of Lyndoch: every single membership application from the general community has been rejected, including that of our now Mayor Vicki Jellie.
Board member positions are no longer advertised.
The annual general meeting is no longer advertised.
Has there been an outcry from the board at this lack of inclusion? No.
Regardless, we have still unpicked the fact that Lyndoch has recorded a series of deficits these past five years and will borrow money from residential bonds (as the current laws allow it to do), to fund its $100 million masterplan.
We also recently learned, thanks to two former Lyndoch workers who peeled back the lid, that Lyndoch was gobbling up to 44 per cent in management fees for home care packages.(Again, the laws currently allow these fees.)
And this still doesn’t touch on what I haven’t been able to publish, because Lyndoch is litigious and I have to pick my way through a minefield to report even this much.
Our local political leaders know about most – if not all – of the above. Some of them have even met personally with those directly affected.
And yet, perhaps despite the best of intentions, nothing has come of it.
That may change after this week.
This week will see the public release of the findings of the Royal Commission into Aged Care and the federal government’s initial responses.
The sad and infuriating story of what people are expected to “put up with” – as aged care residents, aged care staff, the residents families and the wider community – will be laid bare.
It will no doubt emphasise the need for better staffing ratios, better pay, better training and working conditions, better scrutiny of those in positions of responsibility, greater transparency around funding and fees, and why aged care residents should never been seen as “customers”.
But I also hope this inquiry exposes why so many people connected to aged care feel disempowered from speaking up and out about what they know, because they fear the repercussions.
I can tell you that fear and silence around Lyndoch Living is very real, even if not everyone is touched by it.
I know it, several GPs around Warrnambool know it, several lawyers around Warrnambool know it. Our local MPs know it. The families and friends of those directly affected know it.
The release of the Royal Commission findings is our chance as a whole community to speak up for those who can’t do so themselves.
This was the promise the community made to Lyndoch when it was first built more than 60 years ago: first and foremost it would protect and care for the elderly and frail, and those who look after them.
Now is the time to make good on that promise.
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Carol Altmann – The Terrier
South West Coast MP Roma Britnell is taking action in response to a leaked copy of an explosive Lyndoch Living staff survey.
Could this be the moment when someone with power grabs the wheel and steers HMAS Lyndoch away from the iceberg?
Many of the long-suffering staff – past and present – will hope so.
Before I give you a snippet of the damning survey responses (brace yourself), I asked Ms Britnell if she had received a copy and what she intended to do about it.
She could have said, “sorry, Terrier-blogger-journo-social-media-brat, no comment”.
But, in a statement to The Terrier today, Ms Britnell said she was concerned, and that the survey mirrored issues raised by a number of people she had spoken to over recent months.
Ms Britnell said she will now meet with the Lyndoch board and CEO to ask what is being done. This is significant, because MPs don’t wade into troubled waters easily.
I can also confirm that the federal Member for Wannon, Dan Tehan, has asked the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to investigate concerns raised earlier by constituents.
This, as we know, comes on top of growing unease among staff at the Warrnambool Medical Clinic, who – I suspect – are starting to understand why two GPs quit last April when that clinic was sold to Lyndoch Living for a total of $1.6m.
The WMC Practice Manager has also resigned and leaves in two weeks. (“Ahoy me hearties, iceberg ahead!”)
First, here is what Ms Britnell had to say in full:
“I received a copy of the report via email on Tuesday morning and had some concerns about its contents.
I am now seeking a meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of Lyndoch Living and Members of the Board to discuss these matters.
I also note I have been approached by several different people over the past few months who have shared with me concerns which relate to the matters contained in the report.
Lyndoch is a vital institution in our community and it’s really important it retains its long held reputation as a high quality home for the elderly and a great place to work.
That’s why it’s important concerns raised by staff or residents are appropriately addressed – that is information I will be seeking from the CEO and Board. “
One wonders how much longer the Lyndoch board can continue to deny the obvious, which leapt off the page in the leaked confidential staff survey.
Lyndoch received the survey results in January, they went to the board in February, but still it has done nothing to address the damning assessment of the CEO’s leadership that was contained within.
Here is a snippet which I believe people need to see in the public interest, not just the watered down version as reported in the Warrnambool Standard:
“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.”
Read that again. Up to 15 people is not a “small sample”. That is shocking, especially when you consider the Lyndoch corporate area has about 40 staff in total.
For even one person to claim to be enduring the “CEO’s culture of intimidation, manipulation and bullying” is one too many.
To have 10 to 15 warm-blooded, real people feeling that their “safety, health and well-being” is suffering, is disgraceful.
And what has been done in response?
Instead of leaping into action, Lyndoch hired a consultant – yes, another big fat fee on the public dime – to offer the board a counter assessment of the results:
“Look, over there! Over there! Nothing to see here!”
In LyndochLand™ , it’s the fault of the senior staff, the older staff, the kitchen staff, the person who takes out the bins on a Friday, the woman walking past the Lyndoch Milk Bar, the person who posted a nasty comment on Facebook, a pesky little journalist….anybody, anybody, but the person at the very top of the tree.
Is that a cover up, pure spin or clever public relations?
I don’t know, but what I do know is that the board – at the end of the day – will wear any consequences of not acting decisively.
The board are the people who are at risk of serious reputational damage. In light of these survey results, they can no longer say that they didn’t know.
And it is poor Lyndoch, owned and loved by the community for 60 years, that could face both reputational and significant financial damage.
Compensation payouts of hundreds of thousands of dollars are being awarded to individuals who have suffered workplace bullying and harassment. This is not a game.
On top of that, consider this: if the iconic Warrnambool Medical Clinic was to fall apart because of similar issues filtering into its workplace, then there is no more “goodwill” and Lyndoch will have paid close to $2 million* for fresh air.
All this before even a sod is turned on the new $12 million medical centre to be built at Lyndoch to house the WMC and up to 20 GPs.
The pushback against those who dare to speak up and out is enormous – it’s all just a “social media” beat up – and meanwhile the HMAS Lyndoch lurches ever closer toward the iceberg.
At least now Ms Britnell and Mr Tehan are helping to lower the lifeboats.
There is a Lyndoch board meeting next Tuesday: we can only hope that the board leaps in and starts paddling.
*The $2 million includes $1.6m for the WMC and $300,000 for the Health Spot, plus purchase fees and charges.
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Carol Altmann – The Terrier
It’s 12 months since the Warrnambool City Council started a new chapter under a new CEO, but still it staggers under the weight of the old regime that is pulling the place apart.
As I write, I have just heard from solid sources that two high-level staff have taken leave amid allegations of bullying.
Other senior staff have taken sick leave or unexplained leave, including the head of governance who has not been seen for months.
Over the past six months, staff have continued to resign, paying tribute to their workmates, but saying they can no longer deal with the workplace culture and a lack of leadership.
One senior staffer who left put it this way in a letter to colleagues: “I urge you to stick to your values, call out things that are not in line with the organisation’s values and most importantly, be kind to each other.”
The elected council, meanwhile, remains riven with deep rivalries that pit the Cr Gaston/Neoh faction against the Cr Hulin/Cassidy/sometimes Herbert faction, in a bitter struggle which is circular and exhausting.
To be frank, despite the polite smiles in the council chamber, most of the time they want to rip each other’s heads off.
Whistleblowers have been isolated and the CEO’s supposed “open-door” policy remains blocked by gatekeepers, so staff are reluctant or unable to step through.
Even the CEO is kept in the dark, having allegedly not been briefed about the looming credit card scandal until June last year, which is when the scandal broke publicly.
In that environment, faith is broken and people learn to just shut up and get on with it.
Or they resign.
I say all this being fully aware – and grateful – that the council is full of decent, solid, hard-working, loyal people who give their absolute best to Warrnambool as true servants of the public and they make up the vast majority of council staff.
But the fact is the new CEO, Peter Schneider, inherited a shite sandwich which he has been unable to turn around.
Just three months before Mr Schneider started, the results of an independent staff survey leaked into the public domain and it was not a pretty picture.
It found that since 2014, the council had gone backward on every key measure, including leadership, people, customer focus, and strategy and planning.
Most telling was that while 71 per cent of all staff said they felt proud to work at the council, only 51 per cent said they looked forward to coming to work each day.
In one department, only 39 per cent enjoyed coming to work each day.
That is not a sign of a happy place, but a place where good people keep hanging in there, hoping things will get better.
They haven’t – I have seen resignation letters and spoken to some of those who have left – and they won’t until three things happen:
a full, open and independent assessment of the workplace culture with a commitment to act on the results;
an end to the bunker mentality by being open and honest with the public;
a changing of the guard at the next council elections in October.
Without these, I fear that the WCC will continue to lumber along like a bus on broken wheels, wondering why it’s losing all of its passengers.
Carol Altmann – The Terrier
WORD has it that dozens of Lyndoch Living staff have filled out the recent staff survey with honesty and courage.
This is a huge step, and one taken despite fears of being identified.
The next step is for the full results of this survey to be presented to the Lyndoch board, not just a summary or extracts, but the full picture. The board must demand this be the case.
If Lyndoch plans to be fully transparent to the community, a summary of the survey results and any issues identified should also be made public.
As Dr Bernadette Northeast recently proved by taking on the Warrnambool City Council and going public as a whistleblower, the truth can only be fully revealed if all of the evidence is on the table. It takes people like Dr Northeast and brave Lyndoch workers and ex-workers to ensure this happens.
I have now written 14 stories on the complex and multiple concerns swirling around Lyndoch, having had contact with more than 60 sources from Warrnambool, Seymour and Plenty Valley.
Some of these stories are temporarily unavailable for viewing, and I will leave you to speculate as to why this is so.
What I can tell you is that the concerns around Lyndoch are very real.
People from right across our community, including many past and present Lyndoch staff, are genuinely worried about its new direction and its financial future if plans for a multi-million-dollar medical centre go ahead.
To put it bluntly, they fear Lyndoch could go broke.
Others are worried about staff morale, and the trickle-down affect on residents.
Many are outraged by Lyndoch’s ongoing spending on a horse race and a corporate marquee at the May Races.
I can assure you that I will continue to fight for the full facts on all of these issues to come out.
South-West MP Roma Britnell is also taking action.
Ms Britnell has responded in writing to those who have contacted her with their concerns, saying she is “taking these matters seriously” and has already had “several meetings and discussions on these matters” on behalf of her constituents.
Some people are organising meetings with Ms Britnell for early in the new year.
Others have now lodged applications to become members of Lyndoch, including me, with a decision to be made on these applications at the next board meeting.
Questions have also been put to the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission on whether Lyndoch’s race sponsorship and building a medical clinic fits with its classification as a charity and Public Benevolent Institution.
The community is mobilised, it is energised and it is – once again – finding its voice.
Lyndoch workers are also finding theirs.
The only voice still missing is that of the Lyndoch board and CEO who, between them, could allay all of these concerns by simply being fully transparent.
What happens with the results of the Lyndoch staff survey, which closed last Thursday, will be the first test.
Carol Altmann – The Terrier
A couple of weeks ago, Lyndoch Living hired a Melbourne consultant to survey staff and unearth whether, essentially, any of the issues raised here these past six weeks are true.
The online survey, which closed at 5.30pm today, is at least an acknowledgement by Lyndoch that it can’t ignore the stream of allegations around its workplace culture, but I have little confidence that it will reveal very much at all.
Why? Because I doubt many staff will be brave enough to respond, or to answer openly.
First, the Survey Monkey survey is intended to be confidential, yet so many people within Lyndoch that I have spoken to are nervous that as it was sent to their Lyndoch email address, it could be traceable.
Second, the “confidential” survey asks what area of Lyndoch the staff member works in.
Thirdly, the “confidential” survey asks if anyone has an “extensive issue” that they would like “someone” (who??) to call them about, or to see them about, to please provide their contact details.
Finally, just days after this survey was sent out, Lyndoch board chair Kerry Nelson issued a statement to all staff which emphasised the board’s full support for Lyndoch CEO Doreen Power.
Ms Power, at the end of the day, is responsible for any workplace issues which could be flushed out by the survey.
In other words, before nervous staff have even spoken up via the survey, the person who is ultimately in charge has been absolved by the board of any responsibility.
Given all of the above, would you fill out this survey without fear or favour?
What Lyndoch still struggles to grasp is that the allegations around Lyndoch are not from one or two disgruntled staff who have turned to a journalist, but a stream of people who have come to me as their last resort.
I didn’t approach these people – they approached me and they continue to approach me, because they no longer trust the internal workings of Lyndoch to listen, to protect, to nurture and to restore their faith in their workplace.
It’s exactly what happened around the misuse and abuse of credit cards within the Warrnambool City Council, when whistleblowers pushed information to me because they no longer trusted the internal systems, and no bloody wonder.
The council, in its newfound transparent culture, has hounded those who it believes “leaked” information, rather than ask why information was passed on in the first place, or be grateful to those who had the courage to do so.
It’s the same attitude behind Lyndoch threatening dismissal of staff members who express an opinion on The Terrier Facebook page or, heaven help them, clicks “like”.
I can only say to the Lyndoch board and executive: wake up and smell the coffee.
Instead of spending time and money on Survey Monkey, public relations spin, and hunting down staff who click on The Terrier, the board and executive should be diving deep to build respect, empathy and trust.
The first step should be the appointment of an experienced, independent reviewer who can take the time to conduct private, in-depth, face-to-face interviews, off site from Lyndoch.
The second should be the board insisting on summaries of staff exit interviews, which I can only assume doesn’t happen already.
And the third is creating a culture not of “yes, sir, no, sir, three-bags-full-sir” but which encourages the question of “why?”
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, the Honourable Anne Ferguson, recently spoke about the need for a “questioning” workplace culture as an essential part of a healthy and safe work environment.
And as Lyndoch is community owned, it is not just the staff who should be encouraged to ask questions, but all of us, with an expectation of answers.
Yet, after six weeks of my hammering on the door of Lyndoch, there are still so many questions:
about staff turnover, horse race sponsorship, the racing corporate marquee, the $100 million masterplan, the “state of the art” medical clinic, staff shortages, why there is still only one Registered Nurse on night duty for 200 residents, board selection, the new constitution, core values, contracts, equipment, and corporate cars (which I haven’t even got to yet)….
We still don’t even know whether Lyndoch made a surplus or deficit last financial year.
So while Nero tunes up his fiddle on Hopkins Rd, we will rest, regroup and we will keep pressing on, after Christmas and New Year, until we have the answers.
Thankyou to every single person who has helped the Foxy Fighting Fund. If you would like to make a small contribution, you can do so below.