Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Rose Wall says the disabled woman should have been treated with dignity and respect. Photo: Supplied
A disabled woman in her 20s was verbally abused by care home staff during a heated altercation in 2022, the Health and Disability Commissioner (HRC) has found.
The HRC says it initiated an investigation into the concerning interaction that took place at a specialist residential care home on the evening of 12 December 2022.
The facility - which has not been named - is described as a secure environment, specifically designed for supporting people who have committed an offence, have intellectual disabilities, and complex social needs.
In a shocking report, the HDC said a disagreement escalated between staff and the woman (Ms A), because Ms A wanted to keep her iPad in her room overnight, which was against the facility's rules.
In a 20-minute-long audio recording of the incident obtained by the HDC - provided by a former employee and which has not been released publicly - both care workers could be heard raising their voices.
One worker (Ms B) is said to have called Ms A offensive names.
"Ms B can also be heard saying 'I hate you too', 'I can't stand you', 'you're an ugly human being', 'you're mental enough', and 'no one is your friend, you don't have any' to Ms A."
The report said the slamming of doors could also be heard.
Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Rose Wall said Ms A should have been treated with dignity and respect, regardless of her challenging behaviour.
"Ms B's yelling and the way she spoke to Ms A amount to verbal abuse and indicate a lack of respect. Under no circumstances is it acceptable for disability support service providers to verbally abuse anyone in their care.
"The support worker failed to provide services of an appropriate standard by not following support plans and the organisation's code of conduct."
The former employee (Ms D) told HDC another staff member (Ms C) also hurled insults at Ms A.
The report stated in the audio recording, Ms C's raised voice could be heard in the background, but it was unclear from the recording what Ms C said to Ms A.
Wall said Ms C had not treated Ms A with courtesy and respect "and did not maintain a zero-harm work environment free from harassment, threats, abuse, discrimination, bullying and violence".
She said both workers breached Ms A's rights, who is said to have a "complex social and medical history".
Wall said the facility's care coordinator (Ms E) failed to respond appropriately to a complaint made by her colleague (Ms D) about the incident.
The report stated Ms E admitted to not listening to the audio recording of the incident when it was brought to her by Ms D and that she asked Ms D to delete it.
Wall said Ms E should have treated her colleague's complaint seriously and escalated the matter.
An incident report completed by Ms B also failed to mention the verbal abuse by staff members.
The disability service has since stood down both workers.
Despite Ms A not supporting a complaint, the HDC said it initiated an investigation because of the seriousness of the issues raised and Ms A's vulnerability.
The disability service told HDC the behaviour of Ms B and Ms C in the audio recording provided by Ms D was 'categorically unacceptable', and went against the service's policies, procedures, Code of Conduct and values.
The service had since sought feedback from those in its care to make sure they were happy with the services they received, reminded residents of their rights, and organised refresher training for staff, as recommended by the HDC.
Wall commended the organisation for making these changes and recommended it provided evidence confirming the content of the new training within six months of the report to HDC.
She also recommended one of the support workers provided a written apology to Ms A, as one of the workers had already done so.