Former Oakden nursing manager who ‘ought to have known’ about ‘appalling abuse’ of patients hit with 10-year ban

A former nursing manager who worked at an Adelaide aged care facility that was closed down after abuse and neglect of patients was uncovered, has been banned from practising for a decade.  

Julie Harrison worked in a number of roles at Oakden’s Older Persons Mental Health facility, which shut in 2017 following a report by the state’s chief psychiatrist that uncovered abuse and neglect dating back 10 years.

A separate ICAC investigation into Oakden made findings of maladministration against five staff members – including Ms Harrison – and the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network.

It also prompted an apology from then-premier Jay Weatherill and contributed to former minister Leesa Vlahos’s departure from state politics.

An investigation by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) into Ms Harrison’s conduct at Oakden saw her referred by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) to South Australia’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT).

Through a statement, AHPRA said the tribunal found Ms Harrison was “genuinely remorseful” of her conduct but that she “shared the responsibility to care for a very vulnerable group of members in the community”.

“There can be no doubt that she must have been aware of their appalling neglect and abuse at the hands of the health workers at Oakden over whom she had control. If not, then she ought to have known,” the regulation agency said SACAT found.

“There can be no excuse for health staff neglecting and abandoning the Oakden consumers or worse, abusing and assaulting them including the unauthorised and inappropriate use of mechanical restraints and subjection to inhumane treatment,” it added.

“These were some of the most vulnerable members of our society afflicted by age, mental illness and mental incapacity and who deserved to be treated with respect, humility and empathy and not just for the convenience of the Oakden staff.”

AHPRA said Ms Harrison was found to have had engaged in professional misconduct and she has been disqualified from applying for registration for 10 years.

She is also prohibited from providing any health service until such time as the regains registration at a health practitioner and ordered to pay the board’s costs.

AHPRA chief executive Martin Fletcher said Oakden’s residents were among “the most vulnerable in Australia” and deserved the best care that could be provided.

“This investigation was another step uncovering why that didn’t happen, and the tribunal outcome is crucial in further ensuring all practitioners and managers make the safety and wellbeing of their patients their paramount priority in the future,” he said.

NMBA chair Veronica Casey said the “lengthy disqualification” sends a power message of deterrence.

“‘An outcome such as this underpins the need for employers to provide working environments that allow practitioners, including nurses, to practise to their full scope safely,” she said.