Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Rose Wall today released a report finding a rest home owned and operated by
Residential Management Limited (RML) in breach of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights (the
Code) for its management and treatment of a woman’s recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) and poor catheter care.
The woman, aged in her nineties, had multiple complex health issues and needed hospital-level care. Two months after
moving to the rest home, she was hospitalised for a UTI. When she returned to the rest home, she had a permanent
indwelling catheter and frequent bowel incontinence. In the subsequent months, the woman developed further UTIs on
several occasions. Sadly, the woman died after being hospitalised for another UTI.
Rose Wall highlighted the importance of detailed catheter care planning and the management of recurrent UTIs in
consumers with continence issues.
Ms Wall considered that management of the woman’s health was complex, and staff put considerable effort in providing
care to the woman in some areas. However, Ms Wall criticised the rest home’s poor management and treatment of the
woman’s UTIs, including a lack of short term care plans, and no consideration of different interventions. Ms Wall
considered the woman’s catheter care was also poorly managed, with staff failing at times to empty the catheter bag or
change it.
"[I]naction and failure by multiple staff to adhere to policies and procedures points towards an environment that does
not support and assist staff sufficiently to do what is required of them and ensure that its residents receive optimal
support, and RML must bear overall responsibility for this," Ms Wall said.
Ms Wall recommended that RML provide a written apology to the family, develop and present training to its staff on
management of UTIs and catheter care, update its UTI and catheter care policies, and consider developing a form for
recording discussions with families and the resulting decisions about a resident’s care.
The full report for case 18HDC01468 is available on the HDC website.