Failure to Investigate Resident's Allegation of Abuse
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to appropriately respond to an alleged violation of abuse reported by a resident during an ongoing investigation into another incident. During a review of records related to a facility-reported incident, it was discovered that a resident had answered affirmatively to all questions on the Resident Interview form for abuse, but no further comments or additional information were documented regarding the claim. There was no evidence that the facility followed up on the resident's statements or initiated an investigation into the possible abuse as required. When questioned, the acting DON was unaware of the resident's prior claim and indicated that the previous DON had conducted the interviews at the time. The resident was later interviewed by the surveyor and recalled the situation, stating that the staff member involved was no longer employed at the facility and denied any current concerns or abuse. Despite the resident's current denial of abuse, the initial failure to investigate the reported allegation constituted a deficiency in the facility's response to potential abuse.