Bill Buchanan Association for the Aged - Uncompassionate, unprofessional & Hostile staff

My experience with BILL BUCHANAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE AGED in Goodwin Drive, Durban has been extremely traumatic.

Staff are unprofessional and *********.

Matron Tucker slammed the phone down on me numerous times when i asked for assistance after a error was made on her side regarding my father's chronic medication. It was an extremely urgent matter so you can imagine the frustration & anxiety of having the person responsible for his care, simply putting the phone down because she didn't feel like dealing with it as it was the weekend. I was distraught with worry and couldn't actually believe the level of unprofessionalism I was encountering. My father and I both found Matron Tucker to be hostile towards us thereafter. Not long after this my father was forced out of his room and eventually into frail care against his will. He told me that Matron Tucker and the resident social worker hardly ever checked in on him to see how he was and that he was while in Frail Care and he was fearful of them both as he found them to be arrogant and uncaring.

When I went to Dudley Fortune, the CEO, for assistance, he blatantly **** to me repeatedly and then threatened my father with eviction when I tried to lay a complaint against him and Matron Tucker. Lorraine in HR ignored my email asking for assistance regarding laying a formal complaint and instead sent my inquiry to the very people I was wanting to lay a complaint against. Fortune retaliated by threatening my father with eviction, and he made a unilateral decision to cut me out of all communication regarding my father, choosing instead to only deal with people who were not my father's guardian. Dudley Fortune eventually forced my father out of his room under false pretenses and into another building entirely where he was isolated from all his friends and support structures and completely at he mercy of staff and their bad attitudes. All queries on my part were met with hostility and I was ignored at every turn. My father's health and wellbeing deteriorated noticeably in a short time.

Management seemed to have a toxic culture of avoiding responsibility at all costs for mistakes they made and instead .of trying to rectify things they become hostile, unprofessional and even spiteful towards those who point out any issues or try to stand up for themselves.

I waited until I moved my dad out of Bill Buchanan before writing this complaint because I was genuinely fearful they would take it out in further passive agressive actions against my dad, who was already afraid and feeling vulnerable.

In the past, they have subjected him to different rules from other residents, they also felt nothing about isolating him in a different room from where he usually stayed, without any TV or radio for days on end (my dad is also blind so he cant read anything to help pass the time and is reliant on the staff, who often seem resentful about assisting). They were satisfied to leave him in a room without any entertainment or distraction for up to two weeks at a time. It was only my insistence that finally made them bring a working tv to his room. We evebtually bought him a radio to help avoid him sitting in total silence and thank goodness we did, as this inhumane treatment was repeated at every excuse. It was clear to me that government guidelines for the pandemic were being exploited by staff at the cost of my father's own health and quality of life.

Bear in mind, staff could come and go from the premises every day throughout the pandemic but my father would be isolated for 10 days if he stepped one foot off the grounds.

I saw his mental and emotional well being deteriorate dramatically under their care.

When I was moving my father out of Bill Buchanan, at Emmerson house, I was waiting in the reception area where I overheard two staff members responsible for helping my dad, loudly mocking my father in Zulu while he was not there, and not realizing who I was and that I could understand them. I was disgusted with their attitude and lack of compassion but deeply relieved to know we were leaving that kind of culture behind us.

Having moved my father way from Bill Buchanan we are now experiencing far better care at his new home and my father's health and wellbeing have improved already. Staff at his new home are friendly and kind and extremly helpful and the difference in attitude is noticeable and very welcome! Now that I am satisfied that my father is being well cared for, I no longer suffer the extreme anxiety that I had whenever dealing with the staff at Bill Buchanan these last 9 years, who were often unprofessional, resentful and hostile towards me and my father.

Dealing with the staff at Bill Buchanan has been a terrible, emotionally taxing, deeply frustrating and painful experience. From my own experience I can say that if you love your parents, I would not send them here. I really have nothing good to say about this place.