Staff at Logan's Jeta Gardens nursing home, where 16 residents died with COVID-19, have been threatened with legal action if they release information to the media, as part of workplace restrictions described by a union as "ethically dubious".
An email from the centre's human resources manager advised staff they would be "reported to the police and legal action may also be considered" if they were found to be releasing or distributing information to any person, news organisation, or social media outlet.
Last week the ABC reported on an incident at Jeta Gardens where a resident fell off a second storey balcony after failing to receive her pain medication on time, amid staffing shortages.
The 79-year-old, who was seriously injured, remains in the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.
An incident report into the case, seen by the ABC, listed "neglect" as a contributing factor.
"Due to the recent incident that has occurred at Jeta, I would like to bring to your attention the importance and seriousness of releasing information and documents pertaining to residents at Jeta Gardens," the staff email said.
Attached to the email was a copy of the aged care facility's Confidential and Security of Information Policy "to ensure that all information remains private and confidential, and that staff are aware that they MUST NOT divulge any information (verbal, written, or photographic medium, including software and passwords) in relation to residents, staff or any business dealing of Jeta Gardens."
'Some people shouldn't be in the industry'
Asked about the situation at Jeta Gardens during senate estimates on Wednesday, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Richard Colbeck said he was "concerned" about the facility's management.
When Senator Murray Watt said some relatives of residents of the centre had been lied to and told their loved ones had been vaccinated when they hadn't, Mr Colbeck said: "Some people shouldn't be in the industry".
"There are some genuine questions to answer from management of this facility," he said.
Staff should be encouraged to speak out: union
The COVID-19 outbreak at Jeta Gardens was Queensland's largest and deadliest in an aged care facility, infecting 82 staff and 100 residents.
Families of residents at the facility complained they weren't informed about their loved ones' positive COVID-19 test results for days.
Aged care consultants were only brought in to Jeta Gardens earlier this month after the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) identified an "immediate and severe risk to the safety, health or well-being" of residents.
United Workers Union (UWU) national aged care director Carolyn Smith said restrictions on workers speaking out about matters, such as serious concerns about residents' safety, were "ethically dubious" and "wrongly seek to minimise the crisis that is occurring in aged care right now".
"Jeta Gardens is not alone in seeking to impose punitive media policies on their workers.
"Given the underfunding and understaffing that is occurring throughout the sector, aged care providers should in fact be encouraging their staff to speak out.
"Widespread media reports of the dire situation within aged care – and unfortunately that includes what's happened at Jeta Gardens – seem to be the only telegrams the federal government is reading about the need to fundamentally reform aged care."
The Jeta Gardens' Confidential and Security of Information Policy binds staff to "use discretion" even when speaking with residents' relatives.
"Requests for information from relatives should be directed to the Registered Nurse in charge or Senior Nursing Personnel," it states.
The policy says residents' records "are not to be removed from the facility".
"Residents are able to access and read their medical records only in the presence of their medical practitioner and/or clinical manager," it said.
Staff also emailed 'Whistleblowers' Policy'
The staff email also included a copy of the Jeta Gardens' Whistleblowers' Policy, which only allows for a person to approach a journalist or politician with concerns about an issue in the public interest, after they have already made a written disclosure of reportable conduct under the Corporations Act, such as unsafe work practices, to a Commonwealth body.
They must have reasonable grounds to believe that the information concerns substantial or imminent danger to someone's health or safety to be able to approach the media or parliamentarian under the policy's "emergency disclosure provision".
Otherwise, they must wait three months after making a disclosure to a Commonwealth body and must have reasonable grounds to believe that no action will be taken before approaching a reporter or politician.
The Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union (QNMU) urged any members with concerns to contact the union.
"The QNMU continues to provide member support and representation for Jeta Gardens members," union secretary Beth Mohle said.
"This includes raising any appropriate member concerns regarding the ability to provide quality resident care, or their general working conditions at Jeta Gardens with the necessary federal or state authorities."
Jeta Gardens reopened on Monday to visitors, but only for COVID-negative residents.
In a statement, the aged care facility said: "Our staff work tirelessly to always care for residents, and especially during these most challenging of times, and we thank them for all their hard work."
Replying to ABC questions about its staff confidentiality policies, Jeta Gardens said: "It is a contractual obligation of all employees of Jeta Gardens, as it is in all professional settings, to maintain confidentiality in relation to clients and fellow staff".
"In our case, the privacy of our residents and health care workers is paramount. To breach this trust causes distress to residents, families and staff.
"There are duties of privacy and confidentiality that apply to all health care workers. Failing to understand those duties can make people vulnerable to legal action for breaches of confidence to a complaint to the Privacy Commission."
The aged care facility referred to its Whistleblowers' policy, saying it had two independent consultants working on site, who were available to "listen and action any concerns" if staff wished to raise issues.
