I’m a regular reader with a subscription to your online edition.
As a close friend of mine is a resident of St Andrews Village, I have been following the story about the death of two elderly residents and an attack on a third. What happened is a tragedy caused by the person who is alleged to have murdered the victims, but I also question the role of St Andrews Village.
In Echonetdaily last week, St Andrews Aged Care CEO Pip Carter had the audacity to say, ‘I want to reassure residents and the community that the safety and care of St Andrews’ residents always has been and always will be a priority’.
Is it a priority? Could this situation have developed because of under-staffing and a poor vetting process in the first place? It seems to me that one night nurse, whether registered or not, should not have full access to unscheduled medications and the possibility of administering them to unsuspecting patients. It should also be investigated whether this situation developed because of an attempt to minimise costs.
Despite these questions, not only has St Andrews Village not been held accountable, but they have even had the above PR statement printed.
I am powerfully disappointed in Echonetdaily for publishing it, thereby giving us the impression that these deaths had nothing at all to do with Pip Carter or St Andrews Village. It’s time to stop pointing fingers and avoiding responsibility people! Don’t the families of the victims want to sue? Don’t the families of the other residents want an investigation, to see whether significant changes to St Andrews’ staff vetting processes, shifts and staffing policy should be made?
If it proves that the safety and care of St Andrews’ residents was not a sufficient priority for management, I hope never to have to end up in a place like St Andrews.
John Rado, Fernleigh
Echonetdaily, like all news publications, publishes often-conflicting claims from a range of people in our stories. The fact that we publish such comments doesn’t mean that we endorse them in any way. – Ed
