By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A former Greater Dandenong councillor has accused a nursing home of acting “above the rules” with an indefinite Covid ban on her visiting her 99-year-old mother in a nursing home.
Maria Sampey has been helping care for her mother Vittoria Primerano who has advanced dementia at the TLC Noble Gardens aged care home.
The ban was not imposed by the Chief Health Officer, but by TLC – which runs Noble Gardens aged care home as well as others across Victoria.
As a ‘nominated person’ for her mother, Ms Sampey has an exemption to visit under the Chief Health Officer’s lockdown restrictions.
However under a ‘TLC Coronavirus Taskforce’ email address on 21 August, TLC chief executive Lou Pascuzzi emailed residents’ families that its homes would be locked down “until further notice”.
There would be no visitors except in “extenuating circumstances” such as palliative care.
On 21 August, Ms Sampey, who had not previously seen the email, was shocked and reduced to tears when barred by staff from making her regular two-hour nightly visit.
“I went outside and sat in my car and I started crying.”
Ms Sampey says she’s worried about her mother’s condition in the meantime.
She fears she’s been punished for filing a recent complaint to the federal Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission about the home.
In a letter to Mr Pascuzzi, she states: “I know that my mum spends most of her time isolated in her room as she is non verbal and cannot complain and relies on your staff to hydrate her, which they do not always.”
She said often jugs of water are still full when she visits her mother at night.
“My mum being so thirsty that she would drink three glasses of water from me and it would take me close to an hour as she has problems swallowing.
“Would your staff have the time? Of course not.”
She told Star Journal: “These homes have to realise it’s affecting people with dementia and their families.
“My stomach’s in knots, and they don’t care.
“The mental health of the residents are going downhill because they are not able to be visited by family.”
A TLC spokesperson said people wishing to visit could call in advance to “discuss the necessity of their visit with our General Managers”. It will be assessed on its merits and weighed against safety considerations.
“Given the growing number of cases in the community, and the highly-infections nature of the COVID-19 Delta variant, TLC is taking every precaution necessary to strictly limit the number of visitors entering our homes.
“This is a short-term measure, and TLC’s appropriate actions over the last 20 months have been instrumental in protecting our 11 large aged care homes against COVID-19; with none of our 1,600 residents, and 2,000 staff and contractors contracting the virus.”
In a statement, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission said it was seeking information from TLC about the matter.
It stated the CHO directions excluded visitors from care facilities but identify “specified exceptions” including the resident’s “nominated person”.
“Residential aged care services are expected to comply with any specific restrictions on visitors’ access that apply in their jurisdiction as set out in public health or emergency management orders issued by the relevant state or territory government.
“Where an approved provider is found to be non-compliant with their responsibilities, the Commission will take appropriate action to ensure that the provider addresses the non-compliance.”
