CEO Message: ABC Four Corners Report

Message from the CEO

To: Residents, families, Staff and friends of Martin Luther Homes

Re: ABC Four Corners ‘Who Cares?’ program

The entire aged care sector has undergone challenging and turbulent weeks. The ABC’s Four Corners program has dedicated two programs to abuse cases that occurred in a number of aged care centres around the country. Previously, the Federal Parliament in Canberra had passed The Aged Care (Single Quality Framework) Reform Bill 2018, the most comprehensive upgrade to aged care standards in twenty years and the establishment of the new independent Aged Care Safety and Quality Commissionwhich comes into force on 1 January 2019. Most importantly, however, is the announcement of a Royal Commission by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

I believe that it is my responsibility as the CEO of Martin Luther Homes to answer any questions that might arise from the current media coverage. If you do have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with me directly via phone 9760 2132 or email birgit.goetz@martinlutherhomes.com.au. You can also come and see me in person, my office is located in the administration building and I have an open-door policy.

Of course, I have also watched the two Four Corners episodes and I was just as shocked, as anyone would be when seeing that elderly people are being mistreated at the hands of staff that have a duty of care and that ought to look after them. Instead, they harmed the most vulnerable people. Any form of abuse is inexcusable! I was truly disappointed to find out that there are still aged care providers that break the law by clearly disrespecting the rights and dignity of their residents. I therefore strongly support the establishment of the Royal Commission to expose the shortfalls and to refer the people responsible to the courts. One can only hope that the Royal Commission, alongside the many reforms that are already underway, will push the irresponsible providers out of our industry and that more accountability and transparency will be the result of this far-reaching investigation.

Long before the intensified media focus on our industry, the leadership team at Martin Luther Homes made it their priority to ensure that we uphold our high standards of care and that our residents continue to be our first priority. Over decades, we have developed a strong culture and work ethic that prevents even the slightest failings. These high standards are set and lived by management and are upheld on all other staff levels. The personalised high-quality care we promote is reviewed daily through supervisors and you can rest assured that all of our staff have undergone rigorous assessments, are fully trained, and must participate in mandatory training, refreshers and professional development courses.

We have only recently been named ‘Aged Care Provider of the Year (Vic) 2018’ by ACSA and we do everything in our power to defend this prestigious title next year. As a not-for-profit aged care provider, we re-invest every Dollar back into our facilities, lifestyle programs, and, most importantly, toward the training and upskilling of our nurses and carers. If you have any suggestions where we could improve our services even further, please get in touch with us. We highly value your feedback and suggestions!

Again, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me directly via phone 9760 2132 or email birgit.goetz@martinlutherhomes.com.au.     

Yours sincerely,

Birgit Goetz