The state of aged care in Tasmania is under scrutiny following allegations that residents have been subjected to chemical restraint without consent. One family told the ABC they believe their relative's life was shortened due to alleged rough handling and sedation at a Tasmanian government-run aged care facility. The government says it is taking the allegations very seriously and has launched a review. April McLennan has the story.
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00:00Every day that goes by I think about my dad, every day. I dream about him every night.
00:08I just can't stop reliving the care and the treatment he got, what I could have done better,
00:14and just see dad all the time. I miss him so much.
00:19Last year, Lee Long put his father Maurice into a Tasmanian government-operated aged
00:24care facility at the Beaconsfield District Health Service. Within a week, Mr Long says
00:29his father's health had deteriorated.
00:32There was something wrong with dad. He was going downhill. Dad was turning into a zombie.
00:35He could hardly walk. He couldn't talk. He was just zombie-type.
00:40Mr Long also alleges staff at the facility didn't seek consent before chemically restraining
00:46his father.
00:48They started sedating dad with medication due to his undiagnosed dementia for pushing
00:57a buzzer 19 times in an hour.
00:59Family members also found bruising on his body.
01:03All around his neck, on his arms, all sorts of things. Quite a lot of bruising. It shouldn't
01:09be there. We need an explanation why it was there. What happened to dad?
01:16Mr Long filed a complaint to the Tasmanian Health Department about his father's care.
01:21While he's yet to receive an official response, department staff acknowledged in emails that
01:26his family's experience was awful and their concerns were managed poorly.
01:32The union that represents aged care workers says facilities are understaffed.
01:37The impact for residents is that they often have to wait to get the care that they need.
01:42They're delayed in going to the toilet. They're delayed in when they get out of bed. We keep
01:47hearing awful stories that nobody else in the community would accept. So why do we accept
01:53for older people just because they're in a nursing home?
01:56In the last financial year, the National Aged Care Regulator received
02:00150 complaints about residential care in Tasmania. And since the start of the year,
02:05the regulator found six aged care facilities in the state were non-compliant with its standards,
02:11including another state government operated facility that was also
02:14identified as having issues with chemical restraint.
02:18There's no way it is acceptable that in public run
02:22institutions in Tasmania that we shouldn't be meeting the national guidelines.
02:27It actually really disgusts me because I think every human being is worthy of being
02:33treated with dignity and respect and actually that should be irrespective of their age.
02:39Unhappy with the care at Beaconsfield, Lee moved his father into a different aged care facility.
02:46I was hoping things would come back to, hey dad's good now, we fixed it. Sadly, he died.
02:53The damage was done.
02:56The Department of Health says the family's concerns are being taken
03:00very seriously and are being actively reviewed. It says it empathises with
03:04anyone whose experience in Tasmania's health system falls short of expected standards.