CRISIS MANAGEMENT

CRISIS MANAGEMENT
‘Strictly confidential’ messaging in case
scandal leaks to media:
Executives at Baptist Community Services
are advised in December how to respond to
questions from journalists, with examples
such as:
Q5. What about SPECIFIC complaint details?
(e.g. abuse/hasten death?): “It is not appropriate
to discuss these complaints publicly as they
relate to personal matters about people’s
privacy. As soon as we became aware of the
nature of the complaints we acted decisively
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Legal advice on December 17 from a solicitor
at Hynes Legal, Julie McStay, advises the
Baptist group’s chief executive:
There are a number of very serious allegations
made about terrible mismanagement and neglect
of the residents including the death of a resident,
potentially as a result of directions given by
(management). These allegations need to be
investigated as a matter of urgency
The legal advice stresses
this plan will be developed so that we are
involved in the investigation to attempt,
where possible, to obtain the benefit of privilege
(confidentiality)
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Nurse and carer Leonie Young tells managers
in an internal probe in December:
We felt that you guys were aware of what
was going on here and that you had basically
stuck your head in the sands and didn’t want
to know about it. That’s the impression that
we all got and that’s why most of us gave up
saying anything
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Employee at Kepnock Grove tells
The Australian:
We believe a number of deaths occurred
sooner because of neglect, poor care,
underfeeding, and not tending to their injuries
and illnesses … We know that a lot of the
official documents are dodgy or not even filed –
we were not allowed to write incident reports
with the truth when something bad had
happened. There was weird stuff happening all
the time and then a cover-up to keep it quiet.
The place was a profit-centre – it was about the
bottom line
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LYNDON MECHIELSEN
The Kepnock Grove aged-care home in
Bundaberg, Queensland. The facility is run
by Baptist Community Services (Carinity)
Baptist Community Services tells the home’s
manager in December she is accused, among
other things, of:
falsifying documentation by changing incident
and progress notes to alter the meaning, so as not
to alert head office to any site incidents
Carinity’s PR and media manager James
Woods emails late on Friday:
I am writing now to put The Australian on
notice that we have made application to the
Supreme Court of Queensland for an order
restraining The Australian from publishing
their story in relation to Kepnock Grove
Solicitor Julie McStay advises The Australian’s
Hedley Thomas late on Friday:
Please contact … urgently … regarding an
urgent application for injunction to be filed by
Carinity Community Services Group and heard
before Justice Mullins in the Brisbane Supreme
Court of Queensland TODAY 13 February 2015
at 6pm this evening
CEO Jon Campbell in a media statement
subsequently issued to The Australian:
We are deeply sorry that clinical management
at Kepnock Grove was not what it should have
been. Our No 1 priority has always been to
ensure the safety of the residents and our
resources were dedicated to doing so from the
first moment we were aware the allegations
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