Care provider faces abuse allegations

One of the country's largest providers of care for the intellectually disabled is defending its record after a review found 37 cases of alleged abuse and neglect were investigated in the past 11 months.

Spectrum Care commissioned the independent review following claims that an intellectually disabled man was dragged by the neck naked around a field, kicked repeatedly and overdosed on medication at its Papakura home.

The allegations of abuse have been referred to the police, who are already investigating a complaint of indecent assault on a client at the trust's Papatoetoe home.

Five of the 37 investigations led to staff being dismissed, 16 resulted in a formal warning and a further 16 had no disciplinary outcome.

The Health and Disability Commissioner has been asked to investigate Spectrum's handling of the latest claims.

Commissioner Ron Paterson said the allegations were serious and would be assessed in accordance with the law. He would not say how long that would take.

Staff at the Spectrum home independently alleged the severely disabled and blind man, in his late 40s, was repeatedly kicked on the leg, dragged down a hallway on his back and physically manhandled while walking naked around the Karaka rugby field during an outing.

They claimed the man was given a near fatal overdose of his medication and starved to prevent him defecating because he would smear his faeces.

The man's legal guardian, Allan McEvoy, said a blood test had revealed an overdose.

Mr McEvoy said staff considered the alleged abuse was "the tip of the iceberg rather than a full and clear representation of abuse within the Spectrum Care system".

Spectrum chief executive Jacki Richardson said internal and external audits had never found any evidence of systemic abuse in Spectrum homes.

The 37 investigations showed "how seriously we treat accusations and allegations", she said.

"I think in any human services organisation there is always, unfortunately, situations where people are put under stress and perhaps act in ways that are inappropriate.

"Organisations need to have policies and procedures in place to manage that, prevent it and respond to it as it happens."

The Spectrum Care Trust receives $20 million a year from the Government and employs nearly 900 full- and part-time staff.

The deputy director-general of health responsible for disability services, Geraldine Woods, said the Ministry of Health would do an audit of the Papakura home.

Mr McEvoy said he had little faith in the trust's system to review its own actions and procedures.

Spectrum had assured him the complaint had been "dealt with" but when he met staff privately they said more serious abuse was going on but was being covered up by management.

The independent review last month by consultant Suzanne Win found that on the face of the information, Spectrum Care "are not covering up abuse and were not able to clearly establish guilt on behalf of the staff members alleged to have carried out the abuse".

"Given this outcome there is no case to answer and the staff members continue to be employed."

One the question of the alleged medication overdose, the report stated that a blood test was inconclusive.

Mr McEvoy praised a number of the man's caregivers. "I maintain a high level of contact with the house leader and several other staff and am happy with outcomes thus far for [the man].

"He seems much happier and has put on weight, and the new staff are being trained in a different, more positive culture than was previously the case."

Mr McEvoy said there were problems within the disabled care industry that needed addressing, mainly concerning staffing.

Pay rates attracted two groups, "saints" and unskilled workers who did not have the right attitude, he said.

A social worker who has spent almost 20 years in the field and visited many such homes said client abuse was widespread but kept in-house.

The man, who did not want to be identified, said: "I've seen some pretty appalling stuff, some appalling service delivery."

Spectrum Care

* Spectrum Care supports almost 400 people living in 80 residential houses in the Greater Auckland and Waikato regions.
* The majority of people live in an urban environment averaging 5 people a home.
* The trust employs nearly 900 full- and part-time employees, equivalent to 700 full-time employees, at any given time.
Source: Spectrum Care Trust website