By Aaron Cordy
IN 2008 a National Disability Agreement was signed in what appeared to be the first step to providing better support for people with disabilities falling through the cracks of health care systems. Jump to today, and many of those cracks have been filled by people and organisations with support and care being the last priority, as they reach for every dollar they can squeeze from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Former nurse Pauline Bartel could barely walk when she got onto NDIS. She has experienced mixed results regarding sorting out her plan and the people who provide help that the plan pays for.
Pauline has tales of carers who would sit in her house and count down the clock, a male carer using her time to visit his girlfriend and then bragging about getting paid to “sit on his arse,” and healthcare professionals who make unnecessary phone calls then charge them to her plan.
“But I find the saddest thing about it, once someone knows you’re on NDIS, you’re a cash cow,” said Pauline. “People don’t get it, they go, ‘It’s not your money it’s the government’s money.’ I say no, the Government’s given it to me to create a better life for myself. I don’t see the money.”
It’s this misconception that people think they’re taking money off the Government that allows providers and businesses to believe they can charge what they want for NDIS, but once a plan is wrung dry, it means those in need can’t get their basic healthcare needs met.
Nikki Solway, director of Disability Care Connect, has seen the NDIS breakdown on both sides, she understands some abuse the system, but she also knows many people are not getting the help they need because their plan isn’t equipped to meet their needs.
“At the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that NDIS do not have enough staff or funding, or knowledge regarding people. They don’t have enough staff to cover all the participants they have, to make sure all the participant’s needs are being met,” said Nikki.
“I was working with a woman once who needed 24-hour care, she couldn’t leave her bed unless there was a hoist, and you need two people for that. Her plan only covered enough to have two people for five hours a day. So, she had no overnight care. If there had been a fire in her house, she would have died.
“On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are some people who are really good at knowing what to say to NDIS and they get too much funding in categories. The NDIS don’t have enough personnel and time to be able to review the cases in depth, and to get to actually know the specific client’s needs.”
There needs to be a better way to help people with disabilities receive the care that NDIS intended for them, and a way to chase off the dodgy minority who see the scheme as an easy way to take money from the Government.
