Submission No 3
INQUIRY INTO IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE SCHEME AND THE PROVISION OF DISABILITY SERVICES IN NEW SOUTH WALES
Name: Name suppressed Date Received: 24 June 2018
Partially Confidential
To Whom It May Concern,
I have a younger sister currently residing in a group care home in NSW, she has severe and complex needs that require a high level of support and funding. As our situation is quite complicated we have found that the National Disability Insurance Scheme has provided a lot more issues than solutions in our case. In regards to the experience of people with complex care and support needs in developing, enacting and reviewing NDIS plans, we have to explain our lengthy story to a new person every time and it’s heartbreaking and stressful with no real benefit to my sister. My sister’s communication is level of that to a three year old despite being in her early twenties, so she needs someone to speak for her, and it’s hard when there are people that don’t have the appropriate skills or drive to look after her working as her carers. There seems to be a high turnover of staff, so it has been extremely difficult having any kind of consistency of care. This is so much more important as part of my sister’s needs require her to have specific routine, strict dietary requirements and basic relationship building with her key workers. But we have no opportunity to have any input, as she often gets put with people that don’t have the necessary skills or attitude to look after her and issues just keep blossoming from there. I submitted a complaint about the House Manager to the Service Provider’s head office and absolutely nothing came of it and there was nowhere else to go – I had no choice, and I feel powerless and that any complaints about levels of care, medication requirements and hygiene are just ignored. The Service Provider is threatening to kick my sister out, implying that we would chosen to have her in a group home in the first place, if we had any ability to have her at home. We don’t have the skills or resources have her at home, providing her with the support she needs and also have her own life and careers. I’d never expect a care home to look after disabled clients to the same level that a family would look after them, but it’s extremely distressing that basic reports and medications are overlooked constantly and there seems to be no accountability. Even the quality of food served has had to be a mission of paperwork to get healthy and nutritious meals to be fed to clients in the house. It’s quite upsetting that without family follow-up there seem to be quite low standards and that then when issues are arisen they aren’t seriously dealt with or discussed – there is just a threat of homelessness instead. I really wish that the Government could provide a safety net for people like my sister so that she can have assurance that she wont be living out on the street or in gaol. Thank you for your time reading this.