An autistic man who has spent most of the past fortnight shackled to a hospital bed is there because of mismanagement by the Department of Human Services, the man’s mother says.
Twenty-one-year-old James Pascoe was admitted to the Northern Hospital in Epping two weeks ago, where he is held down to his bed by a six-point restraint system, his mother Bronwyn said.
Mrs Pascoe said the hospital had increased the number of restraints and a guard had been stationed outside his room as her son’s treatment exacerbated his anxiety and behaviour.
“He just wants to get out of the hospital. He’s getting so traumatised and stressed he just wants to escape,” Mrs Pascoe said.
“This behaviour is caused by the environment he’s in and by not having appropriate support or familiar faces and carers who actually understand what he’s trying to say by his behaviour.
“If people who are working with him don’t understand how to calm him and teach him strategies on how to de-stress, his anxiety will reach a level where he’s out of control.”
Mrs Pascoe, a registered nurse, says her son’s current situation comes at the end of a long and frustrating struggle to arrange appropriate care for him.
Mr Pascoe had been living at his parents’ Greensborough house since August, after the DHS housing he was living in was closed.
Mrs Pascoe and her husband, Allan, did not consider alternative accommodation appropriate and so decided to care for their son themselves.
Mrs Pascoe said her son had significantly improved with the help of regular carers while at home, but limited funding for home support meant looking after their son took a heavy physical toll.
Three weeks ago, Mrs Pascoe decided to move her son to a supported accommodation centre in Whittlesea for short-term respite care, despite concerns the facility was inadequate.
“We were run down and there was nowhere else for him to go so we allowed him to go to respite, but they had carers who didn’t know how to work with him,” she said.
“Once they did that, he escalated his behaviour because they didn’t understand him and he didn’t understand them.
“After that he actually destroyed some of the doors and walls because he thought he was trapped.”
Mrs Pascoe said that police were eventually called and James was taken to hospital on November 21.
“He ended up in hospital because of mismanagement by the DHS,” Mrs Pascoe said.
She has started a petition on change.org calling on newly-installed premier Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Jill Hennessy to provide support so she can care for her son at home.
The petition has been signed over 33,000 times.
A DHS spokesman said that Mr Pascoe has been admitted to hospital by his family, who were making decisions about his care while in hospital.
“While several options for support have been offered for James’ long term care, these options have not so far been accepted by his family,” the spokesman said.
“The department will continue to work with James and his family to make sure he gets appropriate and quality care.”