The life of a blind teenager in danger when a disability support worker drops him off at the bus stop

The life of a blind teenager was put at risk after a disability care coordinator left him alone at a bus stop.

“My son was left in a life threatening situation as he is vulnerable,” the boy’s mother said in a report by the Health and Disability Commission (HDC) released today.

The Care Coordinator has been found to be in breach of the Health and Disability Services Consumer Rights Code by failing to arrange for a support worker to meet the vulnerable child at a bus terminal and thus leaving the child unattended .

The names of the people involved and specific details have not been reported for privacy reasons.

The decision is made more than two years after the incident, when a support worker was supposed to pick up the boy from a public bus terminal after school.

A support worker did not attend and the boy was left alone at the terminal, until a member of the public noticed the boy and called his mother for him, according to the report.

The disability service conducted an internal investigation, which found that the scheduled support worker had informed the care coordinator that he would not be able to attend the shift.

The care coordinator had taken steps to hire a relief support worker, however, he did not contact the proposed relief support worker or inform the child’s mother of the shift changes, according to the investigation.

After the internal investigation, the boy’s mother made a formal compliance with the HDC, which conducted its own investigation.

Deputy Commissioner Rose Wall, who found the gap, criticized the support worker, saying, “While the care coordinator’s mistake was administrative and unintentional, it was a fundamental aspect and requirement of her role, resulting in the child was placed in a vulnerable and potentially dangerous position. “

Wall recommended that the care coordinator provide HDC with her reflections and lessons learned from the incident, and that she provide a written apology to the boy and his mother.

While the disability service was not found to be in default, Wall felt that valuable learning could be drawn from the case.

She advised that the disability service provide HDC with an update on changes made to improve systems for organizing relief support workers.

The care coordinator, who was on the job for less than three months, said she had no doubt that her mistake caused this and was deeply sorry.

The disability service sincerely apologized for the individual actions of the care coordinator leaving the child in a vulnerable position and for the stress and anxiety created for the child’s mother at this time.