You have probably seen a lot in the news about the sudden closure of the Earle Haven Retirement Village in Queensland last week. It’s a terrible (and extremely unusual) situation – but we wanted to give you a brief rundown, because it’s also very important.
An argument about money left residents without a home
More than 70 residents of Earle Haven – which is actually an aged care home, not a retirement village as the name suggests – were forced into emergency care last Thursday after an “ownership dispute” between the operator (People Care) and their partner organisation (HelpStreet Group) caused a complete shutdown.
The owner of HelpStreet said his organisation was brought in by People Care to run the home in 2018. But we now know that People Care, who also operate the adjacent retirement village had ended the HelpStreet contract – effective as of next month.
There have been payment issues between the two organisations, and last week HelpStreet (without warning) suddenly withdrew its services. Someone then stripped the home of important medical care equipment – including residents’ medical records.
Over 20 residents were immediately displaced and moved into hospital care, while around 50 were taken to other homes. In some very sad news, one male resident reportedly passed away as a result.
QLD detectives are currently investigating whether any criminal charges are necessary, and our Minister for Senior Australians immediately spoke out against the event:
“I find it simply outrageous that a contract dispute could escalate to the situation that it did . . . I will be looking to bring the full force possible of action onto those who put residents of Earle Haven in such a terrible position – it is simply unacceptable”, he said.
A reminder that the Royal Commission is much needed
On Tuesday, it was announced that the situation at Earle Haven is going to be referred to the Royal Commission – which will be investigating the incident in detail to get to the bottom of who was responsible, and how we can make sure an event like this never happens again.
Of course, while this is a horrible one-off incident, it has understandably created some ‘trust issues’ from the public in the sector (at a time where ‘horror stories’ in the media have already made building trust difficult).
Nonetheless, it serves as a strong reminder of how important the Royal Commission is as it works towards building a better aged care system that guarantees the safety, protection and happiness of our older mums and dads in residential care.
