Kelly Vincent – 5AA Interview on the Centre for Disability Health
08/11/2015
On 8th November 2015, Dignity for Disability MLC Kelly Vincent was interviewed on radio station 5AA about the proposed closure of the Centre for Disability Health and what the closure would mean for the consumers that use the service. Kelly Vincent also discussed the Social Development Committee’s current inquiry into domestic violence. Here is the transcript from the interview.
Andrew Reimer: Joining us now Kelly Vincent. What’s happening as far as the issues?
Kelly Vincent: What I wanted to talk to you about this evening is a big issue that’s just been confirmed in the last few days and that’s the proposed closure of the Centre for Disability Health in Modbury. This is part of the Modbury Hospital and it provides an absolutely essential health service for people who can’t often get the service that others would expect from the everyday GP because often people who go to the Centre for Disability Health have disabilities which mean that they exhibit challenging behaviours. So they might only be able to communicate through ways other than speaking so if they have a toothache or a migraine or some other health concern their only way of communicating that is through behaving in a way that can be interpreted as violent or aggressive or pose a real or perceived threat. And so what the Centre for Disability Health does is work with GPs who have additional training in providing services to people who do have complex needs and make sure that they actually look at the underlying reasons for change in behaviour rather than just treating the change in behaviour itself. Often what happens without this specialised training is a family member or support worker might say to the doctor ‘this person is exhibiting challenging behaviours’ and all that will happen is they’ll get a greater dosage of their medication to sedate them to stop the behaviour. But what staff at the Centre for Disability Health are able to do is actually treat the underlying cause of the behaviour which is really important. If I had an untreated toothache or a migraine for a month or more I’d get pretty upset too.
Andrew Reimer: The reason it’s closing down, is this as a result of the National Disability Insurance Scheme?
Kelly Vincent Well, that’s the bizarre thing. I’ve been sent a copy of the letter which as I understand has been sent to current users of the service and it basically says while the National Disability Insurance Scheme is coming in it’s going to change the way that disability services are provided, including health services, so we need to look at new ways of delivering this service at the Centre for Disability and Health. The interesting thing is though that if you ask the National Disability Insurance Agency they’ll say that they don’t actually want to be involved in health services and it’s been argued from day one that the scheme was never meant to provide funding for health related services, it was only meant to provide for people’s very strictly disability related needs. So we’re being told that there’s going to be no overlap between disability and health by the agency and yet the State Government is sending out this letter saying they need to change the centre because of the NDIS. So go figure really, Andrew.
Andrew Reimer: It’s all about cost cutting isn’t it?
Kelly Vincent: Well, certainly I’d love to have a meeting with the Minister for Health, Jack Snelling, and possibly more importantly the Minister for Disabilities, Tony Piccolo, to talk about what are the reasons behind this proposed closure. Is the closure actually happening, because it seems to change depending on who you’re talking to? In the media we’ve heard the Government or Government representatives say they’re not closing it per se, they’re just looking at other options yet I have it on very good authority from health professionals that the staff working at the centre currently have been told that they’re leaving and that they need to put in place alternative arrangements for clients at the centre currently. So how does that not equate to the centre closing really? So I’d love to sit down with the Ministers responsible and get some clear answers to go back to my constituents and let them know that there will be things in place to support their loved ones. These are not a clientele that the average GP currently is catering to. They’re people with very complex needs and just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you can’t have run of the mill, garden variety health concerns, it just means that the way that we respond to those health needs might need to change and that’s what the Centre for Disability Health has been doing very well, catering to people whose needs might be more complex and making sure they can stay as healthy and independent as possible. So it would be an absolute shame to lose this centre and it would be nothing short of criminal if there weren’t services in place in some way to replace it. So I’m looking forward to being able to sit down with the Minister and get some answers about what is happening because the community seems to be getting very mixed messages on this one.
Andrew Reimer: What sort of consultation was there?
Kelly Vincent: Oh that’s a good question. The health profession that I’ve been speaking to over the last week don’t seem to feel it’s a fair consultation. One person has told me that they’ve been raising these things with SA Health for some time since the closure was more solid, if you like, and are yet to have any real response, very disappointing because as I say these are not people who can just pop around to another clinic. These are people with very complex needs who if their needs go untreated will result in very distressing situations for them and the people who support them. So we need some very clear answers also generally speaking not people who can afford to pay for very lengthy hospital consults general GP consults.
Andrew Reimer: But Kelly the National Disability Insurance Scheme that would be paying for those consultations, wouldn’t they?
Kelly Vincent: Well apparently not because as I said earlier the National Disability Insurance Agency has been quite clear to date about the fact that it doesn’t want to fund health related concerns, that it’s only going to fund needs that are directly related to disability. It might be mobility aids or equipment, but they’ve been very clear on the fact that they want to as much as possible stay out of funding things like educational supports or health supports. So there clearly is a need for the State Government to maintain its responsibility in providing accessible health services to people with disabilities clearly by closing this centre, if that is what is to happen, they won’t be meeting that obligation.
Andrew Reimer: All right now on another issue. I know you’ve been involved with some sort of committee into domestic violence out there in country South Australia.
Kelly Vincent: That’s right. The Social Development Committee of the Parliament is currently undertaking an inquiry into domestic violence it’s a hot topic at the moment, if I may call it that, with the Australian of the Year, Rosie Batty, really raising the profile, which is fantastic on one hand but very sad that it should take so long to get us as a community talking more openly and more readily about this story. So the committee, of which I’m a member, the Social Development Committee, is currently undertaking an inquiry. As part of that we’ve been very keen to hear about the differences in services available for people facing domestic violence in regional areas. So this week just gone, in the last couple of days in fact, we visited Port Augusta and Whyalla. We also visited Mt Gambier, Murray Bridge and I might be missing one, I’m sorry, but really trying to get out in regional areas and hear people’s concerns and certainly the tyranny of distance plays a big role in people’s ability to cater to people in domestic violence situations. We’re also hearing about there not being enough police officers, particularly domestic violence trained specific police officers being available out in the regions. So there are big concerns and it’s something that we need to take very seriously. Obviously domestic violence doesn’t only exist in the regions but the geographical issues that I spoke about does complicate a response. Hearing from people no matter which area they’re in to make sure that we do do a comprehensive report that makes the right recommendations to government to make sure we as a society and a Parliament can respond to the issue of domestic violence responsibly and effectively now and into the future.
Andrew Reimer: All right Kelly, look forward to hearing how it goes with you trying to get on to the Minister for Health, Jack Snelling, but also Tony Piccolo as well when it comes to what’s happening with the Centre for Disability Health out at Modbury Hospital closing. And getting more information about what’s happening in relation to this committee, the Social Development Committee, to do with domestic violence out there in rural South Australia as well. So thank you for calling in tonight.
Kelly Vincent: Thanks Andrew. As always happy to keep you informed.
Andrew Reimer: Thank you very much. Kelly Vincent there, MLC Dignity for Disability.
