Justine
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
Justine worked for the NDIS in a regional area for several years. She visited residents living in group homes operated by one of the region’s biggest disability service providers.
Justine told the Royal Commission that when she first met Mark he was in ‘significant pain’. He was ‘grimacing and crying’ and shifting around in his wheelchair. A belt held him in place in the chair.
Justine asked Mark if he was alright and what was going on. He was non-verbal except for the occasional yes or no. The support worker said Mark had pressure sores on his bottom. Mark’s wheelchair looked ‘ill-fitting’ and Justine questioned whether he should stay in the chair. The support worker told her Mark stayed in the chair all day until he went to bed at night.
Mark had a special mattress for his pressure sores. Justine discovered staff had turned the power off because they didn’t know how to use it. His mattress was almost completely deflated and had been that way for weeks, if not months.
Justine couldn’t find any record of a doctor or medical person treating Mark’s pressure sores.
A week later she returned to see Mark at the appointed time. There was no-one in the office and she couldn’t find anyone around. She had to leave without seeing him.
Justine completed an incident report and management suggested she raise her concerns with the support coordinator.
As a result, a community nurse came to the home to teach support staff how to properly care for Mark and the other residents, who were also seriously neglected. She told Justine that Mark had been admitted to hospital multiple times because of lack of basic care.
The community nurse discovered Mark didn’t have a pressure care plan and staff didn’t know how long he should be left in his wheelchair. They left him sitting in urine-soaked continence pads that exacerbated the pressure sores and caused skin infections. They had been inserting suppositories incorrectly causing Mark pain and discomfort.
About six months later, Mark was rushed to hospital after losing consciousness. Doctors discovered he had fractured bones, internal bleeding and pneumonia. The fractures were not new, but no-one knew when or how they had happened.
Mark died a short time later.
Justine submitted a detailed incident report. A complaints officer immediately emailed telling her no further action was necessary and the incident was closed. Justine was surprised because of ‘the severity of neglect’. She’d been waiting for a police officer to contact her about Mark’s death.
Justine followed up, asking if police had been contacted. The officer told her police would not investigate ‘third-hand reports’, and any report would need to come from someone with direct contact with Mark.
Justine continued to raise her concerns about the incident.
Her supervisors asked if she was ‘emotional’. They told her they were ‘disappointed in her actions’ and to ‘drop the subject’.
Justine refused and wanted evidence they’d reported the incident to police.
She doesn’t believe police were ever contacted.
‘I really hope something does happen to [the provider] … I would hate to think that there's probably more [deaths] to come or more neglect to come from out of that service.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.