Lamond

Lamond began working as a house supervisor at a state-run group home in the early 2010s.

He said it was one of the ‘more complex’ homes in the system. The residents had profound intellectual disability and physical disabilities. Some needed two on one support for bathing, dressing and toileting, others for using equipment such as ceiling hoists to manage transfers between bed, wheelchair and bath. They all needed full support from a staff member for eating and drinking.

Most of Lamond’s working hours were ‘contact time’, spent working directly with the residents. But as the years went by the list of tasks he had to manage in his non-contact time grew exponentially. Lamond told the Royal Commission that a report completed some years before he took the job at the home had found that a house supervisor’s work could not be done in the allotted time.

‘Yet my non-contact hours were still at the same level … over 10 years later and were never increased on a permanent basis to help me cope with what was clearly an unmanageable workload.’

Lamond said that other reports published around this time identified similar issues. These included the number of responsibilities house supervisors had, difficulties with delegating tasks, staff training and rosters, and roles that were poorly defined. The reports proposed solutions but most weren’t implemented.

Some that were implemented only compounded other problems.

One initiative related to staff training and development. This added about 12 hours to his non-contact workload every month, with no increase in the non-contact hours he was allocated.

Lamond found he could only complete his non-contact duties during hours scheduled for direct contact. This meant he had less time to spend with staff, supervising and guiding them in providing care to the residents.

‘The importance of this was underestimated by management,’ he said.

For example, to meet the residents’ complex needs, staff had to know how to prepare meals and feed them safely according to their care plans.

‘These plans would detail how food should be served (from cut into bite sized pieces to smooth puree), the consistency of fluids (from regular to extremely thick), how much should be given with each mouthful, where to place it in the resident’s mouth (this depended on the individual resident’s control of the muscles in their mouth and tongue and their ability to swallow) and how long to wait between spoonfuls ... This is not something you can explain just the once.’

Dressing, toileting, showering and using mechanical hoists and full body slings to transfer residents were ‘just as complex and as vital’ to ensure the safety of both residents and staff.

Lamond said that in his ‘many years of experience’ he found the most effective way to train staff was to work directly with them while providing support to each of the residents.

‘It is not as simple as telling staff this is how it should be done. You need to be working hands-on as a role model,’ he said.

Rather than making the recommended changes, the government took steps to privatise group home services. It began by cutting ‘back of office’ staff, responsible for functions such as payroll. House supervisors had to take on these tasks, and their workloads increased again.

Lamond believes the government created an unsafe workplace in group homes, which negatively impacted the care of residents.

‘I think it illustrates the culture and attitudes, which start with government and slowly filters it way down through the public service … The culture of saying how committed they are to people with disabilities and how important it is that people with disabilities have choice and control over all aspects of their lives. Yet the demonstrated attitude is one of complete disrespect for people with disabilities, their families and the staff working in group homes.’