12. Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (National—Port Waikato) Link to this
to the Minister for Disability Issues
Is she satisfied with the quality of care provided by Spectrum Care Trust to Guy Tuffin?
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister for Disability Issues) Link to this
No. I agree with the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, who has described his care as deplorable and abhorrent.
Dr Paul Hutchison Link to this
When did she first become aware of allegations regarding the abuse of Guy Tuffin, and what action did she take at that time to ensure he received adequate care?
As the member knows—because he has used that line of questioning many times in both written and oral questions—I do not have any ministerial portfolio for the operational matters within the Ministry of Health. Therefore, those questions should appropriately be directed to the Minister of Health. I am happy to answer any question for which I have a ministerial portfolio, but I have no responsibility for any operational issues within the Ministry of Health.
Russell Fairbrother Link to this
Why have successive Governments pursued deinstitutionalisation, and, in general, has the policy worked?
Deinstitutionalisation is about ensuring that disabled people can live in their own communities and do the day-to-day things that most of us take for granted, which is a key aim of the New Zealand Disability Strategy. As to whether it has worked, I have yet to meet any New Zealander who wants to be returned to live in an institution. They do not want to go back.
Dr Paul Hutchison Link to this
How could she possibly not accept any responsibility in her role as Minister for Disability Issues, where she is supposed to be an advocate for disabled people, when an intellectually disabled blind man was allegedly kicked and dragged across a rugby field by those employed to care for him in 2005; and why was the same man, a year later, subjected to cold showers and isolation, and forced to sleep on a faeces-covered mattress for 3 weeks?
The member actually knows the answers to his questions, because they have been the subject of an inquiry by the Office of the Health and Disability Commissioner, which is the appropriate organisation to investigate those complaints and make recommendations—recommendations that the provider and the Ministry of Health are then obliged under the Health and Disability Commissioner’s legislation to implement.
Gerry BrownleeI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I ask you to consider very carefully whether it is reasonable for a Minister to answer by saying that member knows the answer. Surely there is a reason for questions being answered. It is found under Standing Order 371. Ministers should give an answer consistent with the public good—one would assume, the public interest. Therefore, perhaps the Minister should be invited to elaborate a little bit and give the House the answer that she believes Dr Hutchison may already have.
Madam SPEAKERI think that is exactly what the Minister did, and, having said that, she then went on to address the question.
Dr Paul Hutchison Link to this
Is the quality of care provided to Guy Tuffin what people can expect under this Government, or is this just an isolated case?
I was delighted to read at the conclusion of David Fisher’s article on the gentleman to whom the member refers—and whom I actually prefer not to have publicly named, because he did not have a choice over Dr Hutchison putting his name out into the public—that his current living arrangements are more than satisfactory, to the point that he was described as happy and laughing. That is the level of support he is entitled to receive. It is not what he received from the previous provider, which I described in my answer to the primary question as abhorrent.
Dr Paul Hutchison Link to this
I seek leave to table a report by the deputy Health and Disability Commissioner, released on 9 September, that describes breaches of the consumer code of rights—
Dr Paul Hutchison Link to this
I seek leave to table an article by David Fisher on 2 September from Herald on Sunday—