Public hearings for the inquiry into the neglect of residents at the former Oakden nursing home began in Adelaide today and the facility’s chief executive officer Jackie Hanson admitted most residents had not been able to speak up, but if family members had been spoken to when the home was undergoing its external audits abuse may have been stopped.

“If they had been involved in the accreditation process, because the residents had no capacity, we would have seen a different outcome,” Hanson said.

“I don’t believe the carers or the families of the people who lived at Oakden were given an opportunity to share their perceptions with the accreditors.”

The chief executive said Oakden was a place with a culture of cover-ups and under-reporting by some staff.

“That closed environment was a very toxic environment, so people who worked there didn’t recognise what they were doing or walked past it,” Hanson said.

“The wards were locked and the clinical view was by the staff that worked there was it wasn’t really a safe place or appropriate for too many visitors to enter because it stimulated the residents to a point where they would get very upset.”

The State Government closed the Oakden home earlier this year after a scathing review by South Australia’s chief psychiatrist uncovered rough handling of patients, an excessive use of restraints and a concerning level of injuries.

The Independent Commissioner Against Corruption has also launched an inquiry to see if maladministration was involved.

The Senate inquiry will also look at how to protect aged care residents from abuse more broadly, with industry age care practices and assessments to be examined.

– AAP