Staff say they have been bullied and there is a culture of fear.
The Otago Daily Times reported earlier in the week that Oxford Court rest-home had been the subject of a WorkSafe investigation. Complaints had been made to WorkSafe about the management of the rest-home.
WorkSafe said it had met the business owners and it recommended the company review its policies and procedures to ensure it was meeting its primary duty of care.
No site visit was required by WorkSafe and the company advised it had begun work towards making improvements and WorkSafe’s involvement was now at an end.
But in the past couple of days, the Otago Daily Times has received more than half a dozen complaints about incidents in the 72-bed rest-home this year.
The complaints talk of bullying, abusive behaviour, staff and residents being yelled at, visitors trespassed and a culture of fear within residents and staff.
One of the complaints centred around a man with the power of attorney over a resident being trespassed and being "bizarrely" accused of giving Viagra to the resident.
He claims to have previously seen the resident sitting in his own urine and another time sitting in faeces and urine.
In June, he went in to visit the resident and was accused by the manager of bringing in Viagra.
"It was completely untrue, bizarre, and had no basis. I went to the manager at reception and said this was "rubbish" and I had never done that," the man said.
The next day he came back to the rest-home and was trespassed for two years despite being the power of attorney.
"She accused me of sending abusive texts to her, but I said ‘That’s not true’. I had never texted her."
A member of staff was at the centre of an assisted dying procedure, which the family say was ruined by the staff member’s actions.
The resident’s final days were significantly impacted by the person’s aggressive personality and behaviour, the family said.
On the day of the procedure, the staff member came in at 6.45am and woke the woman and her two daughters, who were staying with their mother. The resident had pain in her shoulder and the staff member insisted on giving her pain medication in her stomach. The daughters eventually intervened and told the staff member to "back off".
The resident requested one specific staff member be there, but was told no, and that person was blocked at the door.
Eventually, the requested staff member was brought into the room by a family member. Their colleague became angry about this and confronted a family member about it. She also attempted to turn other family away from the room.
"During the final 24 hours of the resident, they frequently entered the room, engaging in lengthy discussions about spiritualism and presumptuously interpreting feelings and how people were feeling. This was intrusive behaviour when all they just wanted [was] to be left alone," one of the daughters said.
"It felt like they were treating the whole situation like a big production and she was the star of the show."
The resident did not want that person there when dying and the doctor was asked to tell them to not be there, which he did.
Shortly after the resident died, the daughters were told by the funeral director they could write on the casket. The staff member then questioned the funeral director why it was taking so long. Within 15 minutes the daughters left.
"The conduct ... ruined the day for us," they said.
The family laid a complaint with Oxford Court owner New Zealand Aged Care Services (NZACS). However, nothing had changed from what they could see and had been told, they said.
Other incidents include a staff member being isolated in a room after lodging a personal grievance and being yelled at. Another person was shoved and frequently yelled at.
There were also threats to terminate staff contracts at any time. Staff privacy was breached, and HR complaints were ignored.
The actions of management caused mental health issues for staff including suicidal thoughts, depression and insomnia.
NZACS clinical and operations general manager Virginia Sisson said it was aware of the concerns raised in relation to Oxford Court.
She repeated the company had worked with WorkSafe NZ and no further action or involvement was proposed.
She said aspects of concerns formed part of wider employment proceedings involving former employees of the company.
For that reason, NZACS was not in a position to comment further on these matters. She said NZACS treated the care and welfare of residents and staff as paramount.
"We are proud of the high level of clinical care and professionalism provided by our staff to residents at Oxford Court."
