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Death of disabled woman: Wake up call for hospital staff

Tuesday 19 May 2009, 11:28AM

By Tariana Turia

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WELLINGTON

Tariana Turia is distressed that a severely disabled woman who died while in the care of Hutt Valley Hospital was not taken care of properly.

 

"The investigation into this case tells me that the family and patient tried on a number of occasions to warn staff but that their calls for help fell on deaf ears.

 

"I feel for the family of this woman and my condolences go out to them as their daughter should have received better treatment.

 

"Having a disability should not have prevented this woman from accessing equitable, appropriate and quality treatment, for both her medical and nursing care; and her personal care - both aspects which the review highlighted"

 

"This is a huge wake up call for the hospital and particularly those staff who were directly responsible for her care.

 

"People with disabilities have a right to be cared for properly while in hospital."

 

"I will be writing to every District Health Board in this country to warn them of this tragic incident and to press upon them that the rights of people with disabilities must be upheld.

 

"I will also be asking the DHB and the Ministry of Health to commence dialogue to address the perceived service gap for people under 65 with lifelong disabilities who have disability support needs in hospital, to avoid this tragedy from ever happening again."

 

The investigation into the death of the 52-year-old woman in May last year found that there was a lack of understanding of and attention to her needs by busy hospital staff.