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A review into transitional accommodation for people with disabilities who have been discharged from hospital has found some people are getting stuck at facilities almost permanently, amid reports from patients that they are receiving substandard care.

The State Government ordered a review of the Transition to Home facilities after multiple complaints, including the case of a man known as “Mr D” who was found by ambulance staff in squalid conditions with an infected wound.

Mr D was at a Hampstead facility that has since closed, but the remaining Transition to Home programs at The Repat and St Margaret’s Rehabilitation Hospital have also come under fire for a lack of care, with allegations clients have been left to soil themselves in their wheelchairs .

Last week, the ABC revealed multiple complaints from patients at the Repat Health Precinct, including allegations that patients were being left in their own faeces and had been given the incorrect doses of medication.

Originally designed to help NDIS clients stuck in hospital waiting for support to return home or to permanent accommodation, the independent report has found clients were being referred to the service without a discharge pathway, “resulting in clients being admitted whose length of stay in T2H will most likely to be static, long stay or permanent.”

It found while the expected length of stay in a T2H facility was 90 days, the average length of stay was 207 days. As of June this year the longest stay was 536 days.

Staff and clients told the reviewers that in some cases clients were waiting on simple home modifications, but NDIS requirements to get three quotes, combined with the post COVID-19 market was leading to delays.

Major facility misunderstanding

The report found the centers were designed to operate as step-down facilities, but there were frequent misunderstandings with clients who expect ongoing hospital-level care, a situation exacerbated by their location in a hospital setting.

While both facilities were supposed to be a home-like environment, the report found they had significant limitations including shared rooms with just curtains to separate clients, a lack of storage, limited access to outdoor areas and a lack of amenities like kitchen and laundry facilities. .

The so-called “Robust Unit” at The Repat was singled out.

It found St Margaret’s “arrangements are of a much higher standard, although a number of shared rooms impact client privacy and dignity”.

The facilities have already been subject to multiple investigations, including internal audits and an inquiry by the Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner.