Editorial: NDIS breakdown a scandalous farce

That young Queenslanders could languish in hospital beds simply because a bureaucracy could not process the NDIS funding for alternative accommodation is a genuine scandal, writes the editor.

Young Queensland NDIS patients are being left languishing. (File picture)

That young Queenslanders could languish in hospital beds simply because a government bureaucracy could not process the NDIS funding required to provide alternative accommodation is a genuine scandal that should outrage all Queenslanders.

Our state’s hospitals have reached breaking point.

Just four months ago this newspaper reported statistics drawn from the state government’s own Hospital Performance data which showed clearly that our hospitals had hit the wall, unable to adequately service patients’ needs on at least 156 occasions between April and June. Yet now we learn that people are languishing in long-stay hospital beds because a holdup in NDIS funding prevents them being transferred to more suitable accommodation.

As of November 29 there were 863 long-stay patients in hospitals – a 36 per cent increase compared to August last year. Of those, 633 people are considered older patients while 230 are under 65.

Long-stay patients are regarded as medically fit for discharge but remain in hospital due to factors such as waiting for an aged-care placement, disability accommodation and/or support.

Those 863 people could fill Rockhampton, Redcliffe and Toowoomba hospitals combined.

As state Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has said, these patients, through no fault of their own, represent one of the biggest pressures faced by our hospital system.

When people who should be in alternative forms of care are in hospital, it means someone else in need of hospitalisation can’t use that bed.

That we as a state are dealing with this ridiculous situation further highlights what a debacle the NDIS has turned out to be.

This now decade-old, well-intentioned scheme is, in the Department of Social Services’ own words, designed to work with those dealing with a disability and identify the supports needed to achieve life goals including “independence, involvement in your community, education, employment, and health and wellbeing’’.

It was April 30, 2012, when then-prime minister Julia Gillard announced that the federal government would fund its share of the cost of the first stage of the NDIS in the 2012-13 budget. That figure was $1bn over four years.

By the NDIS’s own estimate, the amount lost to the NDIS in the past financial year alone due to “payment errors,’’ including fraud and over-claiming was $1.4bn. That’s $400m more than the Commonwealth used to kick off the entire project in the first place.

And the NDIS has by no means given satisfaction to the estimated (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures) 4.4 million people who have some form of disability.

Just ask Benjamin-Anne George Barnett (featured in today’s story), who has been living at Redlands Hospital for one month waiting for NDIS accommodation.

The minister responsible for the NDIS, Bill Shorten, last month released a long-awaited review into the NDIS which included 26 recommendations to help get it back on track, reduce costs and restore trust and confidence.

Mr Shorten said last month that navigating the NDIS had become “bureaucratic, traumatising, even dehumanising”.

This farce has to end. It seems inexplicable to most Australians that a major government initiative which is now the big-ticket item in our annual Commonwealth budgets could develop into such an utter train wreck.

Mr Shorten has pledged to do better in the years ahead.

He intends to end the rorting, cut through the bureaucratic inertia and get that money through the people this scheme was designed to assist in the first place.

We won’t hold our breath. But we might suggest NDIS make at least some of those desperate people languishing in a hospital bed a priority in 2024.

SHOW HELPS BRISBANE SWALLOW UNIVERSE

Former Courier-Mail journalist Trent Dalton’s book Boy Swallows Universe was a critical and fan favourite when it was released in 2018.

It has now been given the small screen treatment with an all-star cast bringing Dalton’s words to life.

But despite a touch of Hollywood in the cast, one of the true stars of the production is the familiar backdrops of retro 1980s Brisbane.

It is little wonder Queensland tourism leaders are looking to capitalise on the River City’s exposure to millions of people around the world on streaming behemoth Netflix.

Tourism and Events Queensland are hoping it will inspire fans of the book and TV show to explore some of the Brisbane’s hidden gems such as Darra and Redcliffe.

With children’s TV icon Bluey already creating a Brisbane visitor buzz, this latest production should provide a welcome added boost for the state’s tourism industry.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here