Failures over Newmarch House deadly COVID outbreak revealed

[Pelican Press 0]

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Failures over Newmarch House deadly COVID outbreak revealed

Anglicare executives failed to provide sufficient leadership during the deadly COVID outbreak at Newmarch House in western Sydney, an inquest has found.

Coroner Derek Lee on Friday delivered his findings into the 19 residents who died during a COVID-19 outbreak at Newmarch House in Sydney’s west in 2020.

The inquest examined whether Anglicare senior executives provided sufficient leadership during the outbreak.

Camera IconJoyce Parker and Mary Watson speak after the inquest into the deadly Newmarch House COVID outbreak. NewsWire / Damian Shaw Credit: News Corp Australia

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COVID-19. Supplied. Credit: News Corp Australia

Mr Lee said the evidence established that frontline staff “did not have a clear understanding of the necessary chain of command at the commencement of the outbreak”.

He also found that frontline staff did not receive sufficient support from senior management.

He said in his findings that communication between the home and the loved ones of residents was inadequate, with the information passed onto them “largely generic” and sometimes inaccurate due to the pressures which were placed on staff.

He said there were also lapses in basic care, with on occasions residents not administered medication or provided with nutrition.

The inquest examined the decision to treat the patients in-house after becoming infectious, instead of sending them to hospital.

Mr Lee found that in large part the 19 deaths could not have been prevented after the residents, many of whom had comorbidities and serious conditions, contracted COVID.

However, he said some of their outcomes could have been different had they been transferred to hospital rather than being treated via in-home care.

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Outside the coroner’s court at Lidcombe on Friday, Mary Watson, whose mother Alice Bacon, 93, died after contracting COVID at the Kingswood nursing home, said she and her family were vindicated by the findings.

“He found that the outcome for some patients could have been different had they been transferred to hospital,” she said.

“Mum’s outcomes could have been different had she been cared for, she wasn’t care for and that’s why we spoke up through the whole episode.”

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Anglicare Sydney CEO Simon Miller said outside court that many improvements in care had already been instituted and would take time to work through the coroner’s findings.

“At the beginning of the inquest, Anglicare offered an apology and I’d like to reiterate that apology today,” Mr Miller said.

“Anglicare is sorry. We are sorry for the distress experienced and the loss of life during the COVID-19 outbreak at Newmarch House, for the residents, families and their loved ones.

As the coroner said today, there have been many improvements in the way Covid is managed.”

Asked about the decision not to transfer infectious residents to hospital, Mr Miller said hospital transfer was a matter for NSW Health, rather than Anglicare.

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