Nelson Weekly Locally Owned and Operated
03 548 2770
41 Nile Street East, Nelson
03 548 2770 03 548East, 2770 41 Nelson 41 Nile Nile Street Street East, Nelson 41 Nile Street East, Nelson
Wednesday 28 June 2023
Marist STOKE VOLUNTEER
The life of Uli
Page 7
claim FIRE BRIGADE back-to-backs
Page 28
‘They deserve so much more’ MAX FRETHEY Local Democracy Reporter
Almost two years ago, Graham’s* wife was diagnosed with a brain tumour giving her just three to six months to live. He immediately put his hand up to be one of his wife’s carers with a community care organisation. “Back in my young days, I was a bit of a bad bugger and [my wife] pulled me out of the s*** by paying some of my fines off,” he says. “It’s a thing I have to do because I signed a paper 47 years ago... It’s my turn to look after her.” His wife has battled on but is now bedridden, and Graham has to help her with everything, including bathing her and changing her diaper. But now, being part of the care and support sector, he says the industry is in a dire state with administration failures, inadequate training, understaffing, and low pay. Graham’s wife is meant to be cared for by two peo-
ple at three times during the day – he being one of them. But he says caregivers turning up is sporadic and there was one 50hour period where no one came at all. He says that entry-level carers are often thrown into the deep-end and have to deal with highneed clients, like his wife, which can involve everything from feeding to bathing and cleaning excrement, without having had proper training. This is echoed by another carer, Shannon*, who gives an example of a client with a catheter being cared for by someone who didn’t even know what the device was. “That’s really embarrassing,” she says. “They shouldn’t be sending someone to a client who doesn’t really know what to do… it’s not acceptable.” But at least that client had someone visit. It’s not uncommon for core businesses to be so under-
SEE PAGE 2
LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED
RETRO NELSON AIRPORT CARPET INSPIRES T-SHIRT DESIGN: Back, from left: Brighton Lavington, Cushla Vass from Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Nelson Airport communications manager Beth Catley. In front is Caleb Bond, 8. Photo: Kate Russell. Story on Page 4.
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