Kathryn Harland has been left without a support worker "multiple" times. Photo / Mead Norton
A healthcare provider has apologised after a 71-year-old paraplegic was left alone "in a wet bed with blood in it" because her support worker did not show up.
Tauranga woman Kathryn Harland is paralysed from the sternum and requires 24/7 care.
But a HealthCare New Zealand support worker has failed to turn up "multiple" times because, in Harland's view, there is a "severe" staffing shortage.
Harland lives with her husband, but says, however, "I need to have someone that is trained to look after me 24 hours".
She was also concerned for her support workers - one of whom she believed worked 130 hours in one week.
"She came to work here ... absolutely shattered and in tears because she was so exhausted."
Harland became a paraplegic in 2017 after surgery.
"In the prime of our retirement years, looking forward to doing things, and now there's nothing except bed and a wheelchair," she told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend.
A few weeks ago, Harland's husband was out, and she was home alone from 3pm to 6pm because her support worker called in sick and there was no one to cover them.
"This particular time ... I was left in a wet bed with blood in it."
On morning shifts, Harland has two support workers due to it being the "heaviest time" with "transferring, toileting, bathing, showering," but sometimes only has one.
"It's making me very irritable and angry and frustrated, and sad for my carers whom I love dearly - they're pushed to the limit and they can only do so much."
Harland said her husband was the "unpaid helper" but did not want to be a caregiver.
"He refuses because we're entitled to care through ACC, and it's very hard in your marriage, somebody having to do their care."
Harland had lost three "highly qualified" support workers due to the vaccine mandate who would "come back tomorrow if they could".
Originally, HealthCare New Zealand was "very good". Harland's family has laid a complaint with HealthCare New Zealand, the country's largest healthcare provider.
Disabled Persons Assembly Chief Executive Prudence Walker said it was "hugely stressful" that people were not receiving the support they needed across the whole disability support workforce.
"Often with no notice, people have support workers not turning up to get them out of bed, people are going without showers or even meals."
Walker said support workers were off sick or were a Covid-19 household contact.
"There's not a big enough pool of support staff to always find people to fill in when someone is sick."
Walker said the effect of Covid-19 across the disability support workforce was "foreseeable" and, in her view, should have been planned for in the pandemic response.
"The disability support workforce needs to be valued for the role that they play in supporting disabled people's lives."
A disability support worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the sector's staffing shortage meant she had worked up to 65 hours a week.
"There's been times when I've been stuck at somebody's house working and the next carer calls in sick and they've got no replacement so I end up staying, and I'll be doing a 24-hour shift."
The support worker had also gone to work sick because there was no cover.
"We just come to work and put our mask on and sanitise and try and stay on top of it.
"You become quite committed to the people you work with when you've been working with them long-term. You pick up extra shifts to help and you don't want to see them go without."
They said some clients were going "days" without having a carer due to a nationwide shortage.
In their view, "the whole system is just literally falling apart".
HealthCare New Zealand Managing Director Josephine Gagan said the company was "extremely concerned" the "significant shortage" of support workers meant clients did not receive specialist in-home support "on a number of occasions".
"For this, we are deeply sorry, and we have reached out to our client [Harland] to apologise for any distress they may have experienced."
Gagan said HealthCare New Zealand was dedicated to providing people with healthcare, disability and well-being support to help them remain safe and continue to live well or recover in their homes. Its team was focused on increasing recruitment levels, upskilling its existing workforce and sourcing alternative care solutions.
Gagan acknowledged it was a "difficult time" for clients and its dedicated team of support workers and carers.
Covering support worker shifts with little notice was often "very limited due to the chronic staffing shortages," she said.
Its concerns about the impact of the "serious sector-wide staffing shortage" had "consistently" been raised with the health minister and Ministry of Health, and it had outlined a "comprehensive but simple proposal".
"Our entire proposal was ignored and none of our recommendations have been adopted."
Gagan said HealthCare New Zealand "worked hard" to minimise the impact on the delivery of support services, but the Government and the Ministry of Health must "urgently act" to address the "chronic underfunding" of this sector, which had contributed to the shortage of staff.
"Experiences such as this are just the tip of the iceberg, and it is unfathomable how the Government can choose to ignore the detrimental effect their decisions are having on people's lives."
The company called on the Government to take "immediate action" to change immigration policy settings to encourage more overseas-based workers who wished to live in New Zealand.
It also wanted the Government to "urgently review" the funding issues which limited the ability for contingency workforces to be developed and for support workers to be incentivised to work in the evenings and weekends.
A Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand spokesperson said it was committed to "high quality" home and community support services. The Government had increased funding for these services by $42.28 million for 2022/23 on the previous year.
"Te Whatu Ora acknowledges there are workforce shortages in the sector which need to be addressed and it looks forward to its meeting with New Zealand Health Group on July 26 to discuss proposed solutions for this and other issues."
Work was being undertaken, with the Māori Health Authority, in the aged care sector to develop revised terms of reference for the next steps of the aged-care review. This would include the development of a funding model which spanned the "continuum of care for older people" from home and community support services to residential care.
It would also include the transition of home and community support services funding from "input-based pricing to service-based funding," a focus on equity of access, equality, efficiency, simplicity and transparency, and the "consideration of client feedback".
Health Minister Andrew Little's office was contacted for comment.
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