A HUNTER man who has campaigned to get young people with disabilities out of nursing homes says his accommodation alternative has left him isolated and depressed.
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James Nutt suffered brain injuries and became a paraplegic when he was bashed after an Aberdeen football grand final at the age of 19.
He then lived in aged care for about seven years and said he had contemplated suicide because it felt like a prison.
Mr Nutt said he was grateful to move into a purpose-built villa at Mount Hutton at the end of 2013.
The $2.2million complex was funded by NSW Ageing, Disability and Home Care and is run by not-for-profit disability support provider Northcott.
However, Mr Nutt, 31, said issues were now starting to emerge there and he felt a responsibility to speak out to ensure higher standards were upheld.
Mr Nutt is an ambassador with the Summer Foundation, an organisation committed to resolving the issue of young people living in nursing homes.
He said experienced support workers who he respected had left Mount Hutton and had been replaced with people who didn’t have adequate training.
“There are new people who are coming in and they are not trained and you’ve got to teach them everything,” Mr Nutt said.
“Then they seem to leave after their three-month probation ends.
“You build a routine and get to know them and then they’re gone and you have to start over again.”
Mr Nutt said he was also feeling isolated because there was no mobile reception at his home. He said he was sick of having to ask when the problem would be fixed.
“My friends cannot contact me and I get very lonely and down,” he said. “I’ve been cut off, there’s no contact with me and the outside world. I only see friends when I go down to the local pub.
“When I moved to Mount Hutton, I was promised they would push for you to become as independent as possible – that’s not happening.”
Mr Nutt said he also felt like the complaint process was flawed and his concerns were being dismissed.
Northcott’s senior manager Lyudmyla Dendtler said four positions had changed at Mount Hutton in the past six months, which was consistent with industry standards.
“While we acknowledge that staff changes occur, every effort is made by Northcott to ensure a seamless transition between existing and new employees takes place with minimal disruption,” she said.
“Since Mount Hutton opened in 2013, there has been a consistent improvement in this area of service.”
Northcott undertook reference, working with children and criminal record checks before hiring staff, Ms Dendtler said.
She said employees also underwent a “functional assessment” because their role would involve some manual handling of clients.
Ms Dendtler admitted mobile phone reception was patchy and said a booster offered by Telstra had been installed but it had not fixed the problem. She said they would now investigate whether the booster would work for Vodafone or Optus.
Each unit at Mount Hutton had landline telephone capability and clients had the option to sign up to this service, Ms Dendtler said, adding they also provided free internet access to residents.
Mr Nutt recently made a submission to a Senate inquiry looking into young people living in aged-care facilities in Australia.
He said he spoke positively about his new life at Mount Hutton because he didn’t want to distort the message that young people needed to be taken out of nursing homes.
