Bed Rail Safety
24/11/2011
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (14:47): Thank you, Mr President.
Members interjecting:
The PRESIDENT: Order! One of our very important women of South Australia is about to ask a question.
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Disabilities questions about bed entrapment and bed rail safety for people with disabilities.
Leave granted.
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: I spoke at an occupational therapists conference in Whyalla about four weeks ago that I had learnt of a tragic case where an eight-year-old boy with disabilities had become entrapped in his bed rails and died. I understand that this boy was a client of Novita Children’s Services and, since this case, Novita have implemented strict guidelines for their own bedding products to help prevent this from ever happening again. It is good that they have taken positive action but the problem is that these guidelines only apply to their products and are not enforceable safety standards about bed rails. They are simply suggested guidelines.
Additionally, while Novita is the peak body providing disability services for children under the age of 18, it is only one of many agencies that services people with disabilities and they also only work with clients from birth to 18 in their own homes, meaning that even though their products may be safe to use at home they will not necessarily be used when the child goes to respite or to stay at another house.
An SA Health report released on bed safety in hospitals followed the event. It followed a child being asphyxiated in a bed and a confused patient becoming trapped between bed rails and a mattress. The report found that there was no data on this type of incident at either a state or national level. It also found that in South Australia 94 per cent of beds are electrically operated and 60 per cent are manually adjustable; 84 per cent of all beds present an entrapment hazard. My questions to the minister are:
1. Is the minister aware that there are no enforceable standards for bed and mattress safety?
2. What strategies does the minister have in place to ensure that there are no further bed entrapment deaths in South Australian facilities that house and service people with disabilities?
The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:49): I thank the honourable member for her very important question. I will say at the outset that I am not aware of any standards applying to bed rail safety, particularly in relation to the case that she raises in this chamber today. I am not aware, from her question, and I will need some further information as to whether the young boy she referred to was in fact trapped in bed rails in his own home or in some sort of supported accommodation or hospital. As to the aspects of her question that apply to the portfolio responsibilities of the Minister for Health in another place, I will take those to him and seek a response, and I will do the same regarding the other question she asked about enforceable standards.
