Correspondence from the nursing home was sent to Orange-based regional operations staff.

Somehow the six-page fax report ended up in the office of the Daily Liberal’s sister publication, the Central Western Daily.

“I can’t explain how the transmission error occurred,’’ a spokesperson for the nursing home said.

“The fax numbers are very different so it couldn’t have been a simple case of accidentally hitting the wrong digit on the control panel.

“We have started an investigation and the fax machine will not be used until the matter is resolved.

“The incident has been reported to the Department of Health and Ageing.’’

The faxed report told how an elderly resident suffering dementia and other mental illnesses wandered into a room in the south wing of the nursing home in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Staff heard a female patient scream and arrived to find the man standing at the door.

He was escorted from the room while staff attended to a scratch on the woman’s cheek.

The faxed report told how the male resident had become increasingly aggressive towards staff and residents.

He had been transferred to the mental health unit at Dubbo Base Hospital on November 4, returning to the nursing home 20 days later with changed medication.

“At first he was co-operative and happy but has become more suspicious, paranoid, intrusive and resistive to care in the last few days,’’ the report said.

The nursing home was organising a medical review and seeking advice from a mental health consultant.

The nursing home spokesperson said patient confidentiality and safety were of the utmost importance.

“That’s why this fax report error is so upsetting,’’ she said.