Kindred Living Aged Care

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:47): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, as minister for ageing, a question about the mismanagement at the Kindred Living aged-care facility in Whyalla.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: As the chamber knows, I attended the facility late last year with Mr Peter Strawbridge, the husband of a severely demented woman who lives there and who contracted Norwegian scabies, to expose the horrid living conditions in the facility. Only after a national media report, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission finally launched an investigation into the outbreak and found that the Kindred Living facility posed an immediate and severe risk to its residents.

Kindred Living aged care is back in the spotlight today and again for all the wrong reasons. I have been told that a 79-year-old dementia resident absconded from the facility at about 4.45pm last Thursday and was only found at about 11am yesterday, some 3½ days later, following an extensive search by police, SES volunteers and local residents. He was suffering from hypothermia and required hospital treatment. Fortunately, another aged-care tragedy was averted. My question to the minister is:

1. Are you or your office aware of the latest case of neglect at the Kindred Living aged-care facility?

2. While Kindred is funded by the federal government, do you have concerns about the safety and wellbeing of residents at the facility, given the latest incident?

3. Do you believe monitored CCTV cameras in the rooms of aged-care residents would help stop such incidents occurring?

4. Can you give us an update on the CCTV trial?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:49): I thank the Hon. Frank Pangallo for his question. I wasn't aware of the report of the gentleman absconding from Kindred Living, but I do recognise the comment the honourable member made that police, SES and other volunteers were involved in locating the person, so I would like to thank them on behalf of the community for their efforts.

Obviously, not being aware of the circumstances, I don't know whether it was a case of neglect. It is a reality that many older residents of residential aged-care facilities are prone to wander, and I would expect that the relevant authorities will investigate this incident to identify whether all appropriate measures were taken.

The honourable member, quite rightly, links this incident to the possible use of technology in terms of enhancing both safety and the quality of care in residential aged-care facilities, and I completely agree. That's why it was such a privilege for me—I think it was last Wednesday afternoon—to be at Mount Pleasant hospital and inspect the CCTV, the audiovisual technology that has been installed there to help both safeguarding and quality of care.

I think the house, particularly through the advocacy of the Hon. Frank Pangallo, is well aware of the potential benefits of audiovisual recording in aged care, but what is becoming more and more clear is that there are more and more opportunities within technological developments to provide support to older South Australians. The honourable member, by raising this particular case, invites me to speculate, because one can imagine there would be technological enhancements that a residential aged-care facility could install, either for their cohort generally or for particular residents, to enhance their safety.

For example, if you had somebody who was prone to—I shouldn't say abscond, let's just say prone to wander. They might be wandering within the facility in a way that is not consistent with their safety. They might be wandering beyond the precinct of the facility, which might even be a greater risk to their safety. The use of—it might be an audio-triggered sensor, it might be a movement sensor and the opening of a door, whatever it might be—technology that is becoming increasingly—

The Hon. I.K. Hunter: Send them a Liberal press release; you will be able to track them then.

The PRESIDENT: Order, the Hon. Mr Hunter!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I would hope that members actually would appreciate how serious it is to protect the safety and wellbeing of older South Australians, not actually an opportunity for a cheap political shot.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order, the Hon. Mr Wortley!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I can assure you that the Hon. Frank Pangallo and I, and other members on this side of the chamber, look forward to every opportunity to protect the safety and wellbeing of older South Australians, in spite of the ridicule from the other side.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Pangallo has a supplementary and will be heard in silence.