Rhonda Parker accuses some CIS investigators of bias.

Aged Care Commissioner Rhonda Parker has accused some Complaints Investigation Scheme investigators of showing favourtism towards providers.

In her annual report, Parker said some of the statements and actions of CIS investigators provided evidence of a “reasonable apprehension of bias”.

“This office has encountered occasions where a decision-maker has exhibited a degree of partiality or favouritism towards approved providers. During the investigation of one case the officer involved discussed with an approved provider actions that should be taken in order to prevent the issue of a NRA,” the report said.

In another case, the officer noticed staff were providing different information during the investigation and said the provider should reinterview staff to ensure the scenarios were consistent.

“Actions such as those represent a lack of integrity and fairness in the investigation process and, if confirmed on review, would invalidate the original decision made,” the report said, while it also acknowledged a review into the CIS is currently underway.

There was a number of cases where the investigator relied too heavily on information provided by the provider and seemingly failed to consider, or ignored, information offered by the informant, it said.

“In some cases, the investigator did not speak to the informant or other witnesses. This has been experienced, for example, by refusal to consider photographs offered or to conduct meetings with informants.”

Elsewhere, the report criticised the quality of the statement of reasons provided by investigators to outline their findings.

“In a number of cases examined by this office the statements of reasons provided by the scheme were insufficient, failed to make adequate findings on the material questions of fact, did not refer to evidence and, on occasions, did not address all issues complained about or investigated. In some cases, while a decision was noted, no statement of reasons was provided for the decision,” it said.

Of the 125 appeals finalised during the reporting period, 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009, the commissioner agreed with the original CIS decision in 49 per cent of cases. In 38 per cent of cases (48) Parker recommended the decision be varied and in 13 per cent of cases (16) she recommended it be set aside.

The scheme disagreed with the commissioner’s recommendation in nine instances, and partially disagreed in a further three cases. This means the CIS did not accept the commissioner’s recommendations in 10 per cent of the 120 cases.

Parker also used her report to highlight ongoing problems with workload, staffing and funding issues.

A budget of $1.35 million was allocated to the commissioner’s office for the 2008-09 financial year. However, the office found it necessary to present a submission for additional funding at the mid-year review.

“Based on workloads and previous commitments, the submission sought funding for the employment of two additional staff. As business plans submitted in July and October 2008 had not met with success, the mid-year budget submission also sought funding for the development of a case management system. The submission was unsuccessful,” the report said.