Omission of dietitian services or nutrition support products from NDIS Plans
A summary of cases reported from Brisbane and a regional area of Queensland – June 2019
| Pseudonym | Age (years) | Living situation | Disability | Functional impairment which impacts on food and nutrition | Dietitian requested | Hours in NDIS plan | Requirement for nutrition support product | comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruth | Lives in small group home | Cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, epilepsy | No swallow, high risk vomiting and dumping syndrome, requires tube feeding to meet all nutrition requirements into small bowel | Requested 14 hours | No hours | Requires continuous pump feeding to meet all nutrition | ||
| Brisbane | Sensitive to dehydration | |||||||
| John | Brisbane | Cerebral palsy, quadriplegia, epilepsy, contractures and non-verbal communication | Unable to swallow safely, risk of dumping syndrome | Requested 6 hours | No Hours | 100% nutrition through PEG, bolus through syringe | ||
| Drew | Small group home | Genetic mutation resulting in loss of motor abilities, wheelchair bound | Unable to chew, no safe swallow | Requested 5 hours | No hours | 100% nutrition through PEG, gravity feeding | ||
| Beau | Supported accommodation | Intellectual and physical disability, epilepsy | Needs full support for meal preparation and feeding. History chronic constipation, unintended weight loss, sporadic food refusal and risk of nutrient deficiency. Continuous movement of upper body increases energy requirement | Requested 5 hours | No hours | |||
| Graham | Brisbane | Down’s syndrome | Dysphagia, requires texture modified diet and thickened fluids. Reliant on care team. History unplanned weight loss. Periods of food refusal | Planner denied | No hours | Thickened fluids Nutrition supplements in addition to meals | Dietetics | |
| Trevor | Supported group home | Intellectual impairment, anxiety, autism | Dysphagia, difficult to eat volume of food to maintain weight | Needs dietitian to visit home. Planner denied | No hours | Previously funded under Queensland Community Care Services, including dietetics |
- dietitian
- services in the
- home Steven 7 Brisbane Acquired brain injury, Dysphagia, weak swallow, cannot eat enough orally to maintain weight. Needs No hours Feeding tube in place Dietitian
non-verbal eat enough orally to maintain regular
home six years Poor neurological function related to ABI so experiences constipation, diarrhoea, bloating, reflux. vomiting. Disability causes high muscle tone which increases energy requirement and makes it difficult to achieve satisfactory body weight. Maisie 10 Lives with family in regional QLD Autism, d developmental delay Significant food aversions Requires nutrition support product orally Family cannot afford to buy nutrition support product cannot be included in NDIS plan because service unavailable in the region