The manager of a Lake Macquarie nursing home has been stood down after the facility was found to have failed every industry standard.

Key points: An audit of Tenison Residential Aged Care found it met six of 42 requirements, but because it had failings in every standard it was deemed non-compliant

An audit of Tenison Residential Aged Care found it met six of 42 requirements, but because it had failings in every standard it was deemed non-compliant It found the aged care facility did not have effective systems to respond to abuse and neglect of its residents

It found the aged care facility did not have effective systems to respond to abuse and neglect of its residents Southern Cross Care's CEO said it was committed to making improvements

The Tenison Residential Aged Care facility at Swansea, run by Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT, was audited in December and the findings prompted the Federal Health Department to sanction the home and cut off Government subsidies for three months.

In addition, the department said it would consider revoking the home's provider status unless immediate action was taken to rectify its provision of care.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission assesses homes in eight standards, each of which contains between three and seven requirements.

The home met six of 42 requirements, but because it had failings in every standard it was deemed non-compliant.

"The commission identified that there was an immediate and severe risk to the safety, health or well-being of care recipients," Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner, Janet Anderson, said.

Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT has apologised for its shortcomings. ( Supplied: Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT )

Residents have had to sleep on towels and have been left in soiled continence aids, the report found.

"While some staff at the service are kind and respectful, the assessment team identified several instances where care provision did not maintain consumer dignity regarding continence," it said.

Staff, clients, and representatives of the assessment team said a lack of resources was to blame for the issues.

"Whilst concerns have been raised about staffing. Management have not acted to improve human resource management," the report found.

The audit report also found the aged care facility did not have effective systems to respond to abuse and neglect of its residents.

'Truly sorry'

Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT said it was committed to making improvements.

"We accept there are serious issues we need to address at Swansea and we are truly sorry for our shortcomings there," Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT CEO, Helen Emmerson, said

"We value feedback and we have been working with residents and families to continually improve this process.

"The organisation has comprehensive policies in place around elder abuse and neglect."

The audit also identified problems with medication management and alleged chemical restraint.

"There are instances of poor and unsafe administration of medication, including documentation errors, failure to use sanitiser before administering medications, and care staff making decisions about the administration of complex medications," the audit found. "Consumers at risk of falls are not supervised to minimise the risk of falls reoccurring and have not been reviewed by medical practitioners or transferred to hospital in accordance with service policy. "Wound documentation does not assist in identification of changes to wounds and wound dressings are not attended to as recommended. "There continues to be a reliance on chemical restraint, often in the absence of informed consent."

Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT CEO Helen Emmerson said "we are truly sorry for our shortcomings there". ( Supplied: Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT )

Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT told the ABC that the previous facility manager at its Swansea facility was no longer employed and that a replacement manager was now in place.

Ms Emmerson said she was committed to making more improvements.

"We accept there are serious issues we need to address at Swansea and we are truly sorry for our shortcomings there," she said.

"Southern Cross Care has appointed the independent nurse advisor who is working onsite to help us make the necessary improvements.

"A number of corrective actions are already underway covering our processes and staffing as well as education and training.

"Staffing levels have been reviewed to ensure we consistently meet resident care needs and we have also increased our Registered Nurse coverage to 24 hours.

"We sincerely apologise for the impact and distress caused to residents during this time."