Maggots Found In Aged Care Resident’s Head Wound

An elderly inmate was found with maggots in his head wound at an aged care facility in New South Wales on Monday. The man was hospitalized and undergoing treatment.

The incident came to light a few months after the same facility, run by health care provider Bupa, was sanctioned by the government after the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency found the inmates were at “severe risk.” The facility was not allowed to take in any new resident till June because of the sanctions.

Calling the incident a “totally unacceptable and concerning,” Federal Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt said Tuesday that the facility could be permanently shut if the situation did not improve.

"It's totally unacceptable that a provider that has had a visit from the Aged Care Safety and Quality Commission should, in a short period, have someone who has maggots in a wound," Wyatt told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"The quality agency will certainly go back to that Bupa facility and will not allow them to provide reasons that are unacceptable. Ultimately as we have done in the past, we have closed facilities that have not performed” he added.

Sharon Benge, general manager of the facility, apologized to the aged resident and his family and said the procedures at the facility were being reviewed. She added that the staff was getting extra training.

Lorraine Long, the founder of the nonprofit Medical Error Action Group, said, “You couldn’t hear anything more appalling. The government just cannot understand what is going on in nursing homes. Bupa is continually being sanctioned. These instances need to stop.”

Calling the incident a “chronic neglect,” Paul Versteege, who works with Combined Pensioners And Superannuates Association (CPSA), said, "It's a real concern. Bupa is a for-profit provider [so] the law says they have to put their shareholders first — not the people they care for. You can't blame the staff, but you can blame management for this sort of stuff."

The identity and age of the resident were not known.