Cathy

‘In this particular case, just not being listened to, the communication, the lack of education, lack of staff, lack of funding – it’s lack of everything. And [in] this particular case, it proved fatal.’

Cathy is a disability support worker and mental health recovery worker.

Between the late 2010s and early 2020s, she worked for a non-government mental health organisation. She had no prior experience and said she had to learn on-the-job. Initially her manager told her they would visit her every three months, but this never happened.

Cathy supported Andy and his partner Peta in their home for several years. Andy had bipolar disorder and type 1 diabetes. Peta had catatonic schizophrenia.

Peta wasn’t able to care for herself and Andy was her mainstay of support.

When Cathy first met them, they were sleeping late, not eating properly and taking their medication at the wrong time of day. This affected their health and Andy would often have hyperglycaemic attacks.

Cathy helped them sort out a schedule and supported them to better manage their medication and meals. She took them to appointments, helped them clean their flat, wash their clothes and connect with the community.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cathy’s employer told her she was no longer allowed to visit Andy and Peta in their home and had to support them via phone.

‘That made no sense to me,’ Cathy told the Royal Commission.

‘When it came to COVID, I was stunned that the employer turned around and said, “No more.” Surely, there’s got to be a way – to flag them as being really, really fragile and needing better treatment – than to be abandoned.’

Cathy decided to ignore her employer and went to see Andy and Peta.

‘Everything just unravelled and it only took a matter of weeks.’

Andy had become incontinent and he and Peta had developed cellulitis.

Cathy tried to raise her concerns but there was ‘no reporting procedure’ except a trail of emails.

‘I don’t think I ever got listened to.’

Andy’s family were trying to help but his mother was elderly.

The family ended up taking Andy to hospital and waiting seven hours in emergency. Andy didn’t eat, and by the time a doctor saw him his mental health was extremely fragile.

Andy was admitted to hospital and then transferred to a mental health unit. Peta was admitted to a different hospital and stayed there for months because she couldn’t look after herself.

Cathy’s employer terminated its care agreement with Andy and Peta because they were ‘too fragile’.

The new provider moved Andy and Peta to accommodation away from Andy’s family.

Cathy spoke to the new provider to ‘give them a bit of insight’ into Andy and Peta.

‘Didn’t get listened to at that point either.’

About a week after being in their new home, one of the support workers accidentally broke a photo frame that had a picture of Andy and his dad in it.

Andy ‘lost control’ and ‘ordered the worker out’.

The next day when the support worker turned up, Andy refused to let them in. Sometime that day, he had a hyperglycaemic attack and lost consciousness.

The following day, the support worker found Andy unconscious on the floor and rang an ambulance.

Doctors weren’t able to revive Andy and he died. He was in his early 50s.

‘Why wasn’t it reported? Why weren’t the police sent around to double check on their welfare? Or why didn’t an area coordinator go around and check and sort the system out? Because we warned them you couldn’t leave them like that. So to me it was avoidable, absolutely avoidable.’