RELATED COVERAGE: ‘Pressure cooker’ conditions Reform deeply needed
Warragul resident Toni Johnstone has nothing but praise for the way her father was treated during his time at Latrobe Regional Hospital’s aged acute care Macalister unit.
Ms Johnstone’s father was first transferred to Macalister in May this year after his acute dementia intensified, requiring his aggressive behaviour to be treated in a controlled environment.
After an initial stay of 24 days, where Ms Johnstone visited him daily, he required re-admission on 22 July, where he has since remained.
“I had no idea what to expect, and I didn’t have a medical background, but from the first day we walked in there, the carers were just amazing,” Ms Johnstone said.
“My father has assaulted some of the staff; he’s behaviour can be quite aggressive and has had to be dealt with through medication, but they have handled it incredibly well.
“They get slapped in the mouth and cop all kinds of abuse – but all have remained calm and dealt with it appropriately – they never became aggressive with him, they reassured him everything was okay, calming the situation down so it never escalated.”
Ms Johnstone contacted The Express after reading published details of a leaked internal audit of LRH’s Macalister and Flynn acute care wards, identifying potential breaches in patient confidentiality and medicine application procedures.
Based on her experience while visiting her father, Ms Johnstone challenged the report’s criticism of staff professionalism, handling of patient confidentiality, and adherence to medication administration protocol.
“Every time Dad needed something for pain – they told me he had to wait for the appropriate drug spacing time to pass – and I have never seen a breach of patient confidentiality,” she said.
“I trust the (Express) article would not deter from any aged care workers to apply to work in such a facility, I have nothing but complete admiration and the highest of accolades for the people who work at Macalister.”
“These staff treat these people like family – every single person up there was clean and well fed.”
However Ms Johnstone said she could not speak for conditions within the Flynn adult psychiatric ward as she had never been there.
