I don't think writing to Aveo would be any help.
People who do this sort of thing should be de-registered from operation in this country, their property confiscated and turned over to administrators who will do the job properly.
Also I suggest the problem goes beyond one company. I understand that in the for-profit sector the modus operandi is much the same.
I only have experience with one company, Allity. A friend of mine is in one of their aged care centres and seems happy. I don't think he had to buy anything up-front, they just take 80% of his pension for the room, meals, clothes washing, medical attention etc and single room.
https://www.aveo.com.au/investor-centre/corporate-governance/board-of-directors/Saw another story about how Aveo managed it's cash cows (yes I have given up any semblance of respect for Aveo..)
The comments after the story bear checking out as well.
If there is a proper investigation of the practices of this organisation, and if fact the wider industry, there should be thousands of submissions.
Aveo retirement village keeps charging daughter for father’s meals nine months after his death
Janelle Miles, The Courier-Mail
March 6, 2016 1:00am
BROUGHTON Cottam has been dead for almost a year but the Brisbane retirement village where he lived for 17 years until recently continued to bill his daughter for his meals.
Desley Cottam, 72, said the $358 monthly catering fee kept coming until January – nine months after her father died.
Mr Cottam, known as Snow, had just turned 100 when he died on April 13 last year.
He had lived at an Aveo retirement village in Explorer Drive, Albany Creek, since 1998, leasing an independent living unit until 2010, when he moved into an assisted living apartment.
His distraught daughter is keen to warn others about retirement village fees after her dealings with Aveo, which operates runs 75 retirement villages in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
His daughter has refused to sign the lease to her father’s apartment back to Aveo until she can obtain an adequate explanation for “unconscionable” exit fees.
She believes the retirement village operator may have made a “mathematical error”.
Although Aveo has told her the lease is worth $195,000, she has been offered a settlement of only $18,000, minus billed catering and other charges.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...h/news-story/90e5675e8384c49419c066a4d67b7446
Some comments
Lachlan Mar 6, 2016
I was an RN in various Aged Care facilities for many years. I worked in everything from government owned facilities to outrageously expensive private facilities. I worked at one place which the minimum cost per month was $6500 for a shared room. They also offered the dubious "extra services" on top of the standard fee, where the resident was charged an extra $700 per month for extras. The thing was, there weren't enough staff to carry out the "extra" services. It doesn't surprise me one bit this has happened! Privately operated Aged Care facilities are there for one thing, to make as much profit as possible.
@Tracy @Lachlan Not forgetting the extremely contrived Accreditation inspections. In the weeks leading up to Accreditation, management run around making sure everything is just right. Things which have been non serviceable for months are repaired or replaced. Staff to resident ratios are dramatically increased, but only for the days the inspectors are present. I worked at one place which employed a second Nursing Supervisor in the months leading up to Accreditation. When the inspection was over, he was sacked! Staff are coached in what to say to the inspectors if asked. Residents who normally are bed ridden are dragged out of bed and propped up in a chair, with hair and make up done. I remember one woman who couldn't move was forced out of bed, put in a chair and had a magazine placed in front of her, despite the fact she had no concept of reality and was unable to move her arms. It's all so set up and deceptive.
Lachlan Mar 7, 2016
@FN Cate @Tracy @Lachlan The last facility I worked only permitted RN's to administer medication and the RN's had to fight to have that policy implemented. Otherwise, there would have not been much for us to do. EN's and Cert III Carers were not permitted to touch medications. Even EN's who were certified to give medication, were not permitted to administer them, although they did carry out wound care and wound management. There was one RN per floor (six floors), 2 EN's and 4 Cert III staff on each floor. Each floor had 28 residents. I worked in a facility which preferred RN's on 457 Visas. There were only four of us out of 12 RN's who were Australian. I became frustrated because so many of the staff couldn't speak or understand English fluently and in nursing, understanding each other is paramount.
Samantha Mar 7, 2016
@Lachlan @Tracy We used to do a 400km round trip every week to visit a family member. On one occasion my husband asked how were the meals that week. The reply, "Beautiful, the accreditation people are here". Says it all.
So does anyone else watch the "Freedom" ads and think to themselves ............
One might wonder why Aveo has declined to answer the myriad questions concerning residents left to die in 40 Degree courtyards, left helpless for days after falling in their homes ect, ectera ectera.
Well it's simple. It comes out a deep respect for the privacy of their cash cows (soory residents) and compliance with their legal obligations.
Just reminds of a defendent accused of killing his mother and father and throwing himself on the mercy of the court because he was an orphan.
http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20170630/pdf/43kbk18m3vtw7t.pdf
Freedom Aged Care. A better way to fleece the sheep.
Aveo faces outcry over push into Freedom Aged Care
Embattled retirement village giant Aveo has been forced to effectively refund residents at two villages after an outcry about its decision to transition the villages to its new, expensive Freedom Aged Care program.
At the same time, Aveo is stinging residents at some other villages with two sets of exit fees, which can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, if they switch to the new Freedom program, a program offering care similar to that being offered in a nursing home.
Fairfax Media can also reveal that Aveo is using a company that is owned and operated by a current director of its wholly-owned Freedom Aged Care subsidiary to conduct reviews and provide recommendations on the village. It is telling residents the company is independent.
A letter sent to Concierge Bayside residents in Melbourne, says "to assist with the review, Aveo have engaged the services of Aspire Aged Care, an independent advisory firm, to review the village environment and to meet with residents to discuss their needs."
Aveo has been under fire for the past month after a joint Fairfax Media-Four Corners investigation uncovered a litany of questionable business practices at the retirement village operator including churning of residents, fee gouging and misleading marketing promises, such as safety and emergency services, made to some of the country's most vulnerable people.
The investigation has also uncovered that Aveo's two new programs The Aveo Way and Freedom Aged Care squeeze even more money out of residents.
Residents at Freedom can pay more than $900 a week in maintenance fees and care fees, then pay additional fees for services such as changing a light bulb, $15.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/bus...h-into-freedom-aged-care-20170721-gxg6ur.html
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