LINKS CORPORATE MEDICINE WEB SITE Disclaimer The many extracts on these pages are from copyright material. They are owned by the reference given or its owner. They are reproduced here for educational purposes and to stimulate public debate about the provision of health and aged care. I consider this to be "fair use" in the common interest. They should not be reproduced for commercial purposes. The material is selective and I have not included denials and explanations. I am not claiming that the allegations are true. The intention is to show the general thrust of corporate practices as well as the nature and extent of any allegations made. Any comments made are based on the belief that there is some substance at least to so many allegations. Links to Site Maps Central Initial USA Australian International Corporate Practices (to print) Path to this page Home Australia Markets & aging Nursing homes The Companies overview Health care Hospital Corporatisation   Entry to Privatisation   Privatisation Background   Australian states Pathology & Radiology Gen. Pract. Corporatisation Aged Care Story of corporatisation   Nonprofit dilemma Aging bonanza Banks Nursing homes Home Care Breadth health corporat. Retirement Villages Nursing Homes Government    1985 to 1998    Correspondence    1998 to 2001    2002 to 2005    2006 Accreditation Nurses    People farming Residents & Relatives The Companies Not for profit homes Nursing Hm Comp The Companies overview Listed Companies Milstern DCA    Audit problem Ramsay Hlth Care Aevum Retirement Care Aus. Bigger unlisted Comp. Moran Hlth Care Tricare Regis Grp Unlisted Comp. Vic. A Illawaong Saitta/Neviskia CIS Holdings Unlisted Comp. Vic. B Eildon McKenzie SRS & Marnotta Enhance Peel Street Muskjest Lasalto & Easyplan etc Ellis & Elfam Dampier Bay Hastings Regional Navatha & Locksley Unlisted Comp. Other Aegis Sauve/Craigcare Kennedy Thompson Alchera Park Trans Dominion/Farad Gonzales Bresant Tolega & Karoona Peninsula Introductory page This corporate web site addresses the issues of corporate health care within a broad framework. A web page describing this broad context should be considered as an introduction to each page on the web site. If you have not yet read it then CLICK HERE to open it in another tab or web page. Content of this page This is another instance where the department tolerated appalling standards in a Victorian nursing home over many months before it forced the company to sell to someone else.  Australian section    CIS Holdings Templestowe Private Nursing Home

Aug 2001 Another horror story

First there was Riverside, then Yagoona now it's Templestowe. Horror allegations are again emerging about the treatment of elderly residents in nursing homes.
Canberra Update Radio National August 10, 2001

Aug 2001 Forced to sell

The home was originally accredited for a one-year period from 12 December 2000.

C.I.S Holdings Pty Ltd has been the approved provider since 30 May 1999. The building is a leasehold premises.
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The Department has sought a solution which provides minimal disruption to the resident's and their families. The Department's preference is the sale of the home to a new approved provider with a good track record which allows the residents to remain in the home.

On 26 July 2001, the approved provider has agreed to proposing the transfer of the places to a new approved provider. Discussions are currently being held between potential purchasers, the Department and the current approved provider.
Templestowe Private Nursing Home From web page of Australian Dept health and Aging August 9, 2001 Accessed June 25, 2006

Aug 2001 Criticism of regulatory inaction

ELDERLY residents of a Melbourne nursing home have suffered for months, with one frail woman losing her leg to gangrene.

Residents were routinely left alone all day without proper food, water and pain relief.

One in four had ailments that were not properly treated.

Aged-care inspectors reported one woman was restrained in a chair for five hours, alone in a room with the blinds drawn and the lights out.

The incident is part of an unpublished report on Templestowe Private Nursing Home, which could be forced to close today over poor care standards.

CIS Holdings, which operates the 60-bed home in Lower Templestowe, has been told by Aged Care Minister Bronwyn Bishop's department to find a buyer by the close of business today.

Julie Segal, head of CIS Holdings, did not return calls from the Herald Sun yesterday.
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The home has been allowed to operate for nine months despite Ms Bishop's assurances she would crack down on dodgy nursing homes.

The Templestowe home has been twice sanctioned by the department - last September and again in June - and was rated critical on all four standards after an inspection last November.

It was again rated critical on three of four standards in February and another inspection in July rated residents at serious risk.

The February report by Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency inspectors found:

• LACK of pain relief and poor access to health care.
• POOR nutrition and dehydration.
• A QUARTER of residents had injuries not properly treated.

The same inspectors reported finding the woman restrained in a darkened room all day.

"The majority of residents remain in their rooms for most of the day," the report said.

"One resident was observed sitting alone restrained by a chair table from 11am to 4pm on the final day of the audit. The window blind was down, the room dark and the lights were out."

The Agency's February report noted the home had not had a director of nursing for three months. She had quit in November and her replacement quit after only one shift.

The agency's July inspection report said case notes for one woman noted on May 6, "black area noticed on side of left foot, to remain resting in bed."

There were no further entries until May 13 when it said, "no improvement ... left foot swollen and red. Some lesions in both areas."

The following day gangrene of the left foot was diagnosed and the woman was admitted to hospital, where her left leg below the knee was amputated.

She returned to the home on May 22 and on May 29 her case notes said the wound had become infected.

The home has failed to improve despite Mrs Bishop's pledge to rid the industry of sub-standard providers in the wake of last year's kerosene baths scandal.

Despite new powers to remove undesirable nursing home operators and more funding for "flying squads" to maintain care standards, the home has continued operating as standards dropped.
Another nursing home's problems leave elderly suffering AGONY OF THE FRAIL Herald-Sun August 10, 2001

Aug 2001 Failure of the oversight process

THE Templestowe Private Nursing Home has received nine spot checks from Federal Government officers since January. In February a report by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency found that almost 60 residents at the home were poorly nourished and dehydrated, had poor access to health care and a lack of pain relief and that a quarter of them had injuries that were not properly treated, - - - - - - . Finally, on Thursday, the Federal Government took the unprecedented step of publicly calling on the home to sell its bed licences to another operator.
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The saga is disturbing, but, unfortunately, not surprising. We have become accustomed to reading about appalling conditions in our nursing homes.
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However, some of the residents at Templestowe have paid a heavy price for this more tentative approach. We are entitled to ask how it was that the home was allowed to operate in this way for so long. It now appears that even the spot checks have provided inadequate protection for residents who, by definition, are too old and sick to protect themselves.
The Sorry State Of Our Nursing Homes The Age August 11, 2001

For Updates:- A good way to check for recent developments in aged care is to go to the aged care crisis group's search page and enter the name of the company, nursing home or key words relating to any other matter in the search box. Most significant press reports are flagged there. The aged care crisis web site has recently been restructured and some of the older links used from this site may not work.

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Web Page History This page created Sept 2006 by Michael Wynne