A case of neglect and The cover- up by providers and politicians when disabilities harm and neglect occur to our most vulnerable…for shame
I have to say I am disappointed to hear the comments of Michelle Lensink Mp in charge of Human resources South Australia, when she commented on a man, Mr D, found with terrible neglect in a government facility. She downplayed it saying story was overblown. This is no way to treat people who are defenceless and cannot look after themselves. The same SA government is trialling cameras to protect those with disabilities in group homes, which I found commendable but denying someone has been treated badly with neglect in the face of reports by medics and doctors is despicable to say the least.
The man I am talking about was in a residential government facility (I didn’t know there were still these as NDIS seems to run the show these days in disabilities). As noted in an article last month by Jemma Chapman (INDAily Adelaide 14th February 2022) a man was found in a facility, with an open wound, in apparent neglect – malnourished, and sitting and urine and faeces in dirty clothes for long periods “with striking similarities to the horrific neglect death of Ann Marie Smith”
The article noted “after the man was rushed to hospital from the Transition to Home (T2H) care service run by the Department of Human Services (DHS) at Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre.
Paramedics and doctors were so concerned about his condition they lodged complaints about his alleged neglect.”
Why can they not look after those with disabilities properly? What kind of support workers, ‘carers’ are these that let a man be left in this state? This is inhumane it was also noted
“After a lengthy investigation, the independent health watchdog this morning released his findings, including “failings in hygiene, wound care and weight management and how they led to a situation that should have been avoided”.
Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner Associate Professor Grant Davies condemned “poor communication” by those in charge of the man’s care and a lack of support services.”
These failings in hygiene, wound care (he only had a dirty face cloth on an open wound on his face) and weight management of this man means the workers were incompetent or not trained how to look after the man or anyone else in this place of so called care – they do not know then they will not do it will they? Or they simply do not care – I think both would be at play here. Most disabilities workers seem to be untrained and most are untrained and would they know how to at least do the hygiene part? They should. Wound care – perhaps there needs to be a nurse on the job? Where is the nurse at this facility or should not a doctor or nurse be called in regularly to check these people being looked after here. I am always taking my son to the doctors to check what he needs or what is wrong or if he has a wound, a sore toe, a sore lip. Basic care. You need people who know what they are doing. It sounds like none of the staff did know or bothered here.
Jemma chapman notes again in a new article (8 March 2022) that the medics were shocked by the state of the man and said that he had been treated as if in a ‘third world’ look due the smell and filth he was in. This is heart breaking that those we love and care for all their lives are then in places like this where they are not looked after at all after claiming they will and taking the funds we have fought to get from NDIS and sweated blood for in this case a Government facility – does the government get money for this and what are they doing with it? They themselves the government staff running these places need to be checked just like the NDIS providers who mostly have no knowledge or education in disabilities at all or medical care. What about first aid? You have to have that for childcare or school children what about disabilities? The bar is so low to work in this sector. Yet the pay is so high.
Noted by a medic involved ““To see a person in that state that was there, in order to receive care to be left and seemingly forgotten about… one of the things I found particularly concerning was the fact that he had a dirty wet flannel on his open wound on his jaw which had food on it.
“It smelt Third World to be honest. The way he was left looked like something you would see in the Third World.”
‘The paramedic told InDaily the man was “absolutely” in a state of neglect, wearing dirty clothing and soiled underwear.
“I would say that his treatment was clearly sub-par for his needs,” she said.
“I would say that basic human rights of being able to be clean and having adequate wound management weren’t there. He would have been in pain.”’
Lensink, minister for human resources SA, has said that the medics had used language and inflamed the story for whatever purposes as she played down how bad the man’s condition was. Yet I think she herself is the one making up the story for her own purposes to defend the government facility - the medic reacted to the minister’s comments saying that the man’s family were really concerned with his condition and that she herself was shocked at the state he was in. Why would a medic need to make up a story about that? – she is merely stating the facts and conditions she found the man in. The article notes the medics comments -
“And the communication surrounding his care was often contradictory,” she said.
“The people that were caring for him couldn’t answer a question clearly, couldn’t provide a professional handover and didn’t understand or could communicate basic clinical findings and treatment pathways of his presentation, of his wound.”

     There seems to be a key problem here being communication, and if it was contradictory who really knew what was happening with the man? Were there so many workers or casual workers that no one really knew his condition and no records were being kept. Why couldn’t the workers answer the medics questions? No professional hand over, the workers didn’t understand or could not communicate basic clinical findings and treatment pathways of his presentation – the wound.

     Maybe that is because no one had taken him to a doctor or nurse and no one knew what was wrong with the man. For shame to treat a vulnerable person like this who cannot look after himself. That is why he was in care was to receive care yet the people looking after him didn’t know anything about his wound or his state? Who are these government facilities accountable to? There had to be an independent inquiry because people just cover up their own organizations, including government facilities. Including NDIS commission investigating NDIS providers cases of abuse make little effort to really find out the truth.
The article by Chapman (February 2022 InNews Adelaide) states that “The case was first revealed by InDaily last year, after the man was rushed to hospital from the Transition to Home (T2H) care service run by the Department of Human Services (DHS) at Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre. Paramedics and doctors were so concerned about his condition they lodged complaints of alleged neglect.”                                                       To top this off the NDIS quality commission (Chapman 2021 July InNews) has said they have no power to investigate this because even though NDIS being a federal organization (should I say business because its all about the money) they are not in charge of government run facilities. Chapman notes “The independent disability watchdog has revealed it doesn’t have the power to fully investigate the circumstances around the alleged neglect of a man in a State Government-run facility, who remains in hospital more than a month after paramedics were called in.”
     How weird and how convenient that a government organization cannot check on a government run facility. The NDIS watchdog doesn’t even properly investigate cases of abuse properly even when it is an NDIS provider – the cannot be bothered and say not enough evidence never really taking up investigation at all without evidence (i.e. cameras) but they wont make cameras mandatory so that we could have evidence for a criminal investigation when our children nonverbal, vulnerable, even as adults are harmed or neglected in care by workers or a violent disability person, but usually support workers who have no patience and are just there for the money with little knowledge of what a disability person trully needs

     Of course if they phone up the provider the provider will say everything is ok and no such abuse or neglect occurred or that they are doing an internal investigation. Whereas really they do nothing and say, hear or see nothing to cover up what really happened. If they cannot even do the basics of keeping those vulnerable people in their care, clean and healthy then they are even worse.
        Despite her apologies to the family of Mr D , Michelle Lensink, the minister, seems to lack any empathy toward the victim of this neglect, saying that ‘infection was an issue’ is really trying to make light of a serious situation that led to the man going to hospital for a month – what if he had died like Anne Marie - would she have liked to be treated like this poor guy? Do unto others. Perhaps Lensink should spend a month or two in a care facility and see how she gets on.
https://www.abc.net.au/.../michelle-lensink.../100838404
       Disability advocate Richard Bruggeman said the case of Mr D raises questions about managerial competence, and highlights how a lack of coordination between the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and providers is leading to neglect. (ABC News 17 February 2022) "What I don't see is any process that enables that transition from a package of money to a package of services that meets the needs of a particular individual and I think that's a real lack in our system," he said.
        ABC News noted (Feb 2022)“Professor Bruggeman, a former senior South Australian of the Year, believes managers need a hands-on approach when it comes to checking on clients.
     "Our management now in disability services is largely now management by computer," he said."Managers need to get off their bums — get out there and have a look at what's occurring in their organisations. I've documented lots of instances where organisations just do not know what their workers are doing."
       Whether a government facility or a federal NDIS disability provider now a business with their ‘clients’ who are treated less than a client, actually less than a human being, and a client usually tell the business what to do and you are meant to please a ‘client’ so called what a joke these names are – these are people the NDIS disability providers are meant to care for - the most vulnerable.                                                    These so called providers, or disability businesses which is what they really are should be made accountable for every bit of care they provide or fail to provide but expect us to pay for – and treat the parents and those in their care with respect and respect their human rights to be safe, clean, fed and kept free of harm or the provider should be shut down and not operate if they do not treat those with disabilities humanely – at the least the organization punished and penalized even prosecuted like a business would be for failing basic health and safety. Oh that’s right there isn’t any health and safety in disabilities.
         We need to make the disabilities providers accountable and bring in health and safety rules to bear on these businesses, if they want to be a business then they should come under the same rules as all business and have health and safety regulations enforced -there should be health and safety officers that report on them and visit the providers and make sure they are doing what they are meant to be doing - providing care not neglecting or harming our dear ones.

       Bring in the cameras and catch what is going on we parents can never really be sure and live in constant anxiety as we know the disability providers feign care and then we know they have allowed harm many times over never proven without cameras as proof of what happened. Covered up it is a crime in itself that the organizations do that. Some of those CEOs themselves should be in prison for what they have allowed to happen and then concealed it. Concealment of knowledge of an assault, abuse or indictable crime, in itself is a crime worthy of prison.             sign my petition: change.org/disabilitycameras

      all the best
      Anndrea x

#disabilitylivesmatteroz
#cctvcameras4disabilities