My aunt passed away a while ago and I still think about how miserable my aunts experience was here during the last phase of her life. Please do not allow your loved ones to reside here. The worst incident was when my aunt had a fall... The facility never called me (her next of kin and I believe legal guardian by this time), but my aunt did call me herself at 1am completely distraught. I got to speak to a staff member there who essentially she "doesnt know why she called an ambulance, her injury isn't worth going to the hospital" and described it as a "scrape". She had dementia at this time and had a pattern of firmly believing things that may not be accurate, so I believed the staff member, and thought that my aunts injury would just be minor and maybe she was just distressed from the fall. I get to the hospital at about 3am, and she has a MASSIVE skin tear, about the size of a large coffee cup. Missing many layers of skin to the point she needed a SKIN GRAFT. She also needed a tetanus shot and was at very high risk of infection, which surely could have killed her being in her late 80's and extremely frail and under weight. This injury was so awful that I was extremely upset realising that if my aunt did not demand an ambulance, she would have been left with this serious injury, in pain, at risk of infection or death. She had dementia at this stage and very easily could have not been in a well enough state mentally to call us or request an ambulance. I made many, many attempts to find her alternative residency, but was unable to find anywhere with an availability. Ultimately I made as many complaints as I possibly could and the only outcome I received was that the staff member was sent to receiving further training. The issue is that this incident shouldn't have happened at ALL, and anyone with a set of eyeballs would have been able to see this was an injury that required a hospital trip. After this incident I felt helpless and tried to implement safety measures by buying her a smart watch with fall detection, but I was told that staff would not be responsible for charging it, but I lived and hour and a half away and could not do it as often as needed. They should allow accommodations for circumstances like this, especially if they will not hire staff that can identify a serious injury. There was also an another incident where the staff relayed incorrect information to my aunt about a situation regarding her home being sold (not by me, by the NSW trustee and guardian which I had 0 control over her property/finances) which was incorrectly communicated to my aunt (especially giving her highly sensitive emotional state and quickness to anger) to make me seem somewhat predatory, and it lead to the complete dissolution of our relationship. She never spoke to me again, which was extremely sad to watch as I was the only loved one in contact with her and she spent the last months of her life completely alone without a single visitor as she would never want to see me. I had to care for her from afar and send things like clothing and toiletries by mail and request that she was told it was from staff so she would accept it. She passed away in hospital alone because I was too unsure if being there would cause her distress during her last moments, and that is something I have to live with and wonder if it was the right decision for the rest of my life. We were best mates up until this situation occured. Because of this, I never managed to retrieve the belongings from her home, mainly her deceased sons keepsakes, which likely ended up in disposal, which would break her heart. We have been unable to locate anything since her passing, including items left in her Will, all thanks to Ashburn House and NSW Trustee and Guardian. Ultimately, she was a confident, successful woman who lived a proud life and Ashburn House made the last few years of her life sad and depressing. I am very upset that her story ended in such a way. When I am older, I'll be opting for voluntary euthanasia if this place is my only option.
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