People with disabilities stuck in Qld public hospitals awaiting NDIS plans

Dozens of Queenslanders with disabilities are languishing in public hospitals because of long delays in accessing finalised plans through the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme.

DOZENS of Queenslanders with disabilities are languishing in public hospitals because of long delays in accessing finalised plans through the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Figures obtained from Queensland Health reveal more than 100 people who have disabilities are taking up public hospital beds while they await NDIS assessments, finalised plans or appropriate accommodation to move into.

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A 2018 Queensland Audit Office report, which analysed 13 case studies of Queensland public hospital patients with NDIS applications, found they waited an average of 172 days, costing the health system about $3.7 million.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles will tell health ministers at a Council of Australian Government meeting in Adelaide today the NDIS is refusing to budge on funding nursing support in many cases, even when the care needed directly arises from a person’s disability.

Many people with disabilities need regular nursing care for issues such as seizure management for people who have severe epilepsy, catheter care, wound care and meal-time management for people with swallowing issues.

“Hospital discharge delays are the inevitable result of the NDIS’s failure to accept its responsibility on this issue,” Mr Miles says in a COAG submission, obtained by the Courier-Mail.

“Officials have attended meeting after meeting seeking to resolve these issues.

“Without a clear commitment from the Commonwealth and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to fund supports it is unlikely a resolution will be achieved.”

Dozens of Queenslanders with disabilities are languishing in public hospitals because of long delays in accessing finalised plans under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

An “increasingly frustrated” Mr Miles said failure to resolve the issue was resulting in poor outcomes for some NDIS participants.

“Our concerns are real,” he said in the submission. “They are affecting every State and Territory and are systemic, rather than individual. Delays are increasing and so cost-shifting from the NDIS to States and Territories is increasing.

“The question remaining for States and Territories is clearly whether the NDIA will compensate the health system for discharge delays caused by the NDIS.”

The cost of a public hospital bed in Queensland is about $1000 a day.

The Courier-Mail understands Queensland has given funding to the Federal Government that was previously used to support 40,000 Queenslanders with disabilities and yet only 30,000 of them have been signed up to the NDIS.

Mr Miles said NDIS issues were particularly acute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, people with combined intellectual and other disabilities, families experiencing domestic violence, Queenslanders living in rural and remote locations and those without family supports.

In a statement last night, the NDIA said it would: “work with NDIS participants, their families or carers and Queensland Health to assist in any transition to appropriate alternative accommodation, and the continuation of health-related services”.

The issue of regular nursing care under the NDIS has become a tug of war between federal and state governments, with the NDIA insisting the scheme was never intended to replace other mainstream government services, such as health.

A Federal Department of Social Services spokeswoman said responsibility for diagnosis, clinical care and treatment of health conditions lies with health services, including those provided by State and Territory Governments.

“However, some NDIS plans may include funding for a qualified nurse to train a disability support worker to assist a participant to ensure that the support provided meets NDIS quality and safety requirements,” she said.