Carol Altmann – The Terrier

There is still no sign of the Lyndoch Living AGM, but the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation is now demanding answers around staff shortages, poor staff morale, compromised resident care, a lack of leadership and the increased risk of a clinical incident for which staff could be blamed.

In other words, the union has identified all of the critical issues that Lyndoch nursing and care staff have been trying to raise these past 18 months and which many Lyndoch staff believe are now at breaking point.

This is not scare mongering.

This is a warning to Lyndoch and its board that this is no longer a situation that can be ignored or fixed by shuffling the deck chairs.

The plain fact is you cannot lose at least a dozen of your most experienced clinical and nursing staff in a couple of months and not expect an impact.

My long held fear is that it will take a “clinical incident” to bring this to a head – it will take someone’s loved one to be the victim of what is unfolding before there is an intervention. This is my genuine fear and it is one that is now shared by the ANMF.

In a two-page letter sent last Friday, the union has given Lyndoch until the end of this week to respond to its questions, which are outlined in the attached photos, including resident numbers, staff numbers, rosters and what is being done to address the chronic shortfalls.

I am so relieved to see the nurses union now stepping in, together with work behind the scenes from MPs, residents’ families, hundreds of community members, Lyndoch staff, and others who are no longer prepared to let this go on, unchallenged.

The board and the Lyndoch executive may choose silence or spin, but the community is not going to stand for it.

As a wise person reminded me the other day, the standard you walk past is the standard you accept. When it comes to our elderly and vulnerable residents, none of us – surely – can walk past. On we press.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

I am interrupting our running story on credit cards to say there are angry stirrings at Lyndoch Living aged care which is rolling out its $100 million masterplan – and cutting nursing staff.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation has taken up the fight against plans by Lyndoch to blend its two highest acute care units, the 45-bed Audrey Prider Centre unit and the 39-bed Lake Lodge unit, even though they will remain physically separated by a room.

The union says the move will see just one full-time nurse unit manager in charge of the clinical care of 89 residents.

On top of this, the union says, there will be less associate unit managers – 7.5 full-time positions instead of 10 – that will oversee the unit when the nurse unit manager is not rostered on.

Staffing issues have been swirling around Lyndoch for months now, with many of the hard-working staff fearful of whether they will still have jobs.

There are also mounting reports of stress from the staff shortages that already exist. Unfortunately, with all the goings on at the W’bool City Council, I just haven’t had a moment to dig into it all.

I emailed Lyndoch CEO Doreen Power last Friday for a comment on the union statement, but I have had no response.

In the meantime, the first stage of the $100 million project will see the Warrnambool Medical Centre move on to the Hopkins Road site and new carpark up and running within two years.

I sense there will be much more to come on this story.