Elderly Devonport woman denies stopping nurses from helping husband at aged care home

A Tasmanian tribunal has ruled in the case of an elderly man, whose wife has been allegedly blocking a nursing home from giving him help and pain medication.

A tribunal has been unable to intervene in the case of an elderly couple living at an aged care home.

A Tasmanian tribunal has been unable to intervene in the case of an elderly man, whose wife has been allegedly blocking an aged care home from giving him help and pain medication.

The 84-year-old Devonport man, who has dementia, lives at the facility with his wife in a shared room.

In March this year, the operator of the aged care home made an application for a guardian for the man, along with a request that the Public Trustee administer his estate – with the application prepared by a nurse unit manager who cares for the elderly couple.

In its newly published decision, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal noted it was alleged the man’s wife was making it difficult for staff to provide him care.

“It was alleged that there were occasions when (the man) had non-verbally indicated a willingness to receive personal care such as assistance to shower, but (his wife) would then tell staff that he did not want to receive such care,” the tribunal said.

“It was also alleged that at times (the wife) refused to allow registered nurses at the facility to administer pain relief medication to (the man) when in the nurse’s opinion (the man) was in pain and in need of such medication.”

The wife disputed the allegations, and the nurse unit manager said they were unable to provide particulars of the relevant allegations, which would need to be extracted from nursing notes, which would “take time”.

“There was not anyone at the hearing who could give direct evidence about the relevant alleged refusals of care and medication,” the tribunal said.

The application for guardianship has been adjourned to give the nursing home the chance to put its case together.

“Only then will the tribunal be in a position to make findings about (the wife’s) actions in order to determine if a guardian is needed,” the tribunal said.

The tribunal also found it could not identify any need for an administrator for the man’s estate – dismissing that application.

A woman acting for the man through Advocacy Tasmania said he would prefer to have things remain as they were, with his wife as a decision-maker.

She said she met him several times, and that he verbalised intermittently – with facial expressions and non-verbal cues – when he did not want something.

She also said she had not spoken to the man without his wife present, and that his wife mainly spoke, with the man indicating his assent or dissent through these cues.

After an assessment of the couple’s financial situation, the aged care home “properly conceded” there was no need for the Public Trustee to step in, in relation to the man’s estate.

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Originally published as Elderly Devonport woman denies stopping nurses from helping husband at aged care home