Losing Sophie – a preventable incident that did not need to happen, a sixteen year old disability girl with cerebral palsey, who died at a respite house from choking on a rubber glove left around and she had been left alone in the bathroom after workers being told never to leave her unsupervised – why do the support workers not listen or forget what they are told? They are not trained enough, have no empathy, might be from another culture where there is little respect for those with disabilities and do not take up duty of care or responsibility for those in their charge – they are not taught the right things and have no ethics but that is not the workers only that is the manager up to CEO they have little empathy and are all about business and filling their pockets with NDIS funding while our children suffer from the lack of proper care and attention they are being paid to give, or claim to give and then fail to…
Back in 2017 this young 16 year old girl, Sophie Nisco, died from choking on a rubber glove at a respite house in Adelaide…In 2020 the inquest (ABC News, Meagan Dillon, 28 February 2020) found that the death was ‘forseeable’ and ‘preventable’ stated by the Coroner, Anthony Shapel. Poor Sophie died at the care facility - Riverside Disability living, Felixstow, got out of her wheel chair and swallowed a rubber glove left there, later found unresponsive on the bathroom floor by medics who tried to revive her and then found the rubber glove lodged in her throat. The workers pleaded ignorance, and when the mother arrived to see what had happened – she was shocked she thought they showered her daughter in a shower chair not on the floor and now dead on the floor!- (2019 ABC News article, Marchant) What kind of workers are these? Total ignorance and lack of care. Why was she left alone? The workers denied that they were ever told about Sophie’s fixation on putting things in her mouth. However, the judge was shown notes taken at the staff meeting where the mother said all this and warned them for her daughter’s sake and safety.
The Coroner’s report noted that “Sophie suffered from cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD, hearing and visual impairments and had the mental age of a one-year-old.
Mr Schapel found Sophia's care plan was "inadequate" before making three recommendations, including that gloves be locked away and a "key worker" be assigned to every disabled child to better manage risks.” (ABC News)
Mr Schapel recommended one-on-one care for vulnerable children within disability respite facilities and for care plans to include behaviours and characteristics of each individual child. "It was while she was unobserved that she was able to find a glove and aspirate it.
"Her death would have been prevented if she had been provided with the necessary level of supervision and observation."
Outside court, Sophia's father Vincent Nisco said” he hoped what happened to his daughter would not happen to another vulnerable child in care.
He said the family felt vindicated after the court found the death was preventable.”
“Lawyer Andrew Carpenter, for Sophia's mother Nella Nisco, said his client welcomed the recommendations. But he said it was "unfortunate" that Sophia's death was foreseeable and preventable.
"Currently, the NDIS is potentially going to be facing a royal commission based on the abuse, neglect and exploitation of children in care," he said. He said it was disappointing the Nisco family warned the care facility that Sophia would often put things in her mouth, including latex gloves, and yet they could not prevent her from doing so."It's clearly unacceptable," he said.” (ABC News, Megan Dillon, February 2020).
It is not just ‘disappointing’ it is wrong and gross negligence on the part of the organization! Why was the provider not charged or the workers? Our laws need to change to make it a crime to let someone die in your care when it is preventable then they might start trying to prevent it! We need health and safety applied to disabilities facilities and regular checks on the providers and seeing in person how they are looking after those in their care. This is not good enough this allowing preventable deaths and harm as if it is normal. It is more then disappointing it is wrong!
When the mother found out after Sophies death that there were not shower chairs in the facility she couldn’t believe it …"I was shocked … I thought she was being showered in a shower chair, not on the floor," Mrs Nisco told. The coronial inquest will continue this week.(ABC News)On another occasion, Ms Nisco said the centre took Sophia to a school she had not attended for a year. Are the workers just plain stupid or completely in the dark for those they work with? It needs to change these children should not be dying, these vulnerable young adults should not be dying - nobody in care must be allowed to die so easily…with little or no repercussions.
Noted in another ABC News article, 20 May 2019 (Marchant) “Counsel assisting the coroner Kathryn Waite told the court only two staff members were looking after four disabled children at the time of the incident, including another child requiring one-on-one care. Ms Waite said a witness who worked at the centre corroborated to police that staff knew Sophia was not to be left unattended when not in her wheelchair. The court saw notes from a staff meeting where Ms Nisco said she raised the issue in the month before her daughter's death. She said she believed funding for extra care hours at the facility were for one-on-one time, despite that not being spelled out in care plan documents provided to the court.”
"Sophia no longer has a voice, I am her voice. I'm hoping for justice and I hope this never happens to a parent with a vulnerable child," sophies mother said.
This mother did not want any other parents to go through what she went through losing her daughter through the neglect of other - a girl so vulnerable and the carers so ignorant put in charge of her.
(https://www.abc.net.au/.../inquest-hears-of.../11129730
Yet we know in 2019 May, that very same year and month of the inquest for Sophie’s death, another vulnerable girl - Merna Aprem died through lack of supervision, again in a bathroom, left on her own while the organization, Afford, had been told and given instructions, written never to leave Merna alone, another young women of only 19 years old – then drowned in the bath. Where is the care? The training the empathy? What nationality were these workers who were new on the job and not yet been trained in working with these vulnerable ones in the house - why did they leave her alone, and why was the bathroom door locked? So many questions – even more why is no one ever charged for the crime of failed duty of care, or negligence leading to a vulnerable person’s death? The workers never saw the information about Merna, but even if they had would they still have done the same things?
Our Australian government screams for more migrant workers and then channels them in disabilities care and aged care with little training, often not knowing English (no wonder they cant remember the instructions let alone read them) and they are the cheap labour for our capitalist system exploiting those who come in from overseas and putting our disability children at risk by not training the workers, having less standard of care than at home, and having no understanding of disabilities, not empathy to those in their care. Or the providers hire young workers who are cheap to pay and also been on work for the dole or out of high school come into work treating it as a babysitting job out of their depth not properly trained not having understanding once again of the complex needs of a disability person. I had to explain to a young worker who was meant to be one on one with my son “James cannot lift a bowling ball on his own, he will try listening to music on his phone at the same time – he has a disability get it?” That is why they are getting a support worker – they need support and yet the workers do not know anything about support or disabilities care, not enough, and we are paying them our child’s NDIS hard fought for funding to give our children very low standard of care and supervision. The workers felt uncomfortable if I questioned why a bowling ball fell on his foot - he has a one on one worker, why aren’t you actually helping him? Watching him? They were annoyed that I questioned them about why the incident happened – that’s what mothers do, I said to the manager you must ask questions to protect your child! No wonder we ask questions because the providers are not doing a good enough thorough job! We don’t want our children to be harmed or die. It is normal to defend your child and stand up for them. Do not stop.
Even Anne Marie Smith’s carer, Rosa, a 70 year old ( why was she caring for such a vulnerable person on her ow?) who received 6 years on prison for her manslaughter, will be deported back to Italy after she finishes her prison term. She was an Italian national. What was her attitude to those with disabilities did she just see Anne Marie as a paycheck? Did she dehumanize the woman and leave her with no bathing no nothing for a year stuck on a chair to finally die, and they say even Rosa Maione’s employers knew she could not do the job properly with Anne Marie – now those directors of Integrity care are being investigated on criminal charges. And so they should be.
WE must push for changes in law to protect those in care, we must fight for proper training standards of hygiene and health and safety in disabilities we must – the parents – defend our children’s rights from the providers who are really caring at all the way they claim they will and then allow such lack of training, empathy or instruction to cause workers to neglect and not look after those with disabilities properly and then walk away when a precious child dies…scott free and unpunished. Where is the justice in that?
All the best
Anndrea x
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