The New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) has heard a Sydney aged care worker allegedly tied a 93-year-old resident to a chair with a bed sheet and forgot to release her before his shift ended.
An investigation by HCCC found that Personal Care Assistant, Nyima Samdup, allegedly restrained the sleeping resident just before 2am as she sat in a recliner in the dining room in November 2020 at RSL LifeCare’s Wirraway facility in Narrabeen. The resident was found at 8am by two other staff members but was uninjured.
The 48-year-old carer was charged with one count of common assault domestic violence related, to which he pleaded not guilty and the charge was later withdrawn.
Mr Samdup told the HCCC that he was sharing duties with one other carer and that they had to tend to 60 residents across two floors. He said he was attending to other residents at the time of the incident, as well as tending to another situation where a glass window had broken in another resident’s room.
In the Commission’s Statement of Decision released last week, Mr Samdup admitted to tying the resident up and forgetting about her but that the facility didn’t have a clear policy surrounding restraints at the time and that staff lacked sufficient training.
The resident in question allegedly could not walk properly, was prone to falls and would not stay in the chair or listen to him.
During the investigation, Mr Samdup expressed deep regret and disappointment in his actions and said he had no malice or any ill intent when tying the resident to the recliner. HCC found that Mr Samdup placed the resident at risk of psychological and physical harm and thus failed to provide health services in a safe and ethical manner.
A RSL LifeCare spokeswoman told The Daily Telegraph it supported the findings of the investigation.
Mr Samdup resigned from his role in December 2020 and has now been banned from providing any health services for two years.
The resident has since died from unrelated causes.
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