Senior managers at St Basil’s aged care, where 50 died from Covid, can’t remember it all. Grieving loved ones can’t forget
Summary
Senior managers at St Basil’s aged care home in Melbourne testified at a court inquest about the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020, where 50 residents died. The managers discussed issues with the facility’s Covid-19 policy, communication, and record keeping during the outbreak.Key Facts
- In July and August 2020, 50 out of 188 residents at St Basil’s aged care died from Covid-19 or neglect.
- Konstantin Kontis and Vicky Kos were the most senior managers of the facility during the outbreak and were required to give evidence after initially trying to avoid it.
- Kontis said the facility’s board never officially approved the Covid-19 management policy, and he believed he could approve it himself but later admitted there was no clear authority to do so.
- The Covid-19 policy did not give strong guidance on how to handle close contacts or symptoms and was not updated with new government directions; instead, updates were put in a yellow folder for staff to read.
- No clear plan was found for separating Covid-positive residents from others, and some important documents went missing from the yellow folder.
- Kontis said he moved communication directly to the archbishop but did not hold new board meetings as the outbreak worsened.
- There was supposed to be a board meeting in April 2020 to discuss Covid plans, but no minutes from that meeting have been found.
- The inquest is ongoing, and Kontis’ testimony was set to resume in November 2023.
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