Two nursing homes at the centre of Melbourne's deadly COVID-19 outbreak were inadequately prepared for emergencies and had insufficient infection prevention and control procedures, and the surge workforce sent in to help had not worked in aged care before and was "unsure what to do".
“These stark numbers do not begin to convey the trauma and grief suffered by all residents, whether or not they developed COVID-19, and the enormous impact on families,” the review authors found. Christine Golding, whose 84-year-old mother Efraxia died after contracting coronavirus at St Basil's, said the report showed "what a horror show" it was inside the facility.
"What's missing from the review is accountability – they talk about systemic failures, but who was ultimately responsible for the neglect?" The review found leadership faltered at both Epping Gardens and St Basil’s, with COVID-19 outbreaks becoming established before effective responses were put in place.
“I totally accept that, but our problem was that we did not have any staff – there was no one here. So I kept telling them, ‘You can make it my problem as much as you like, but without any staff, I can’t get the residents looked after.’ ”