A support worker responsible for a 20-year-old man who died in a fire after being locked unsupervised in his home failed to do his job properly, the Health and Disability Commission has found.
Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Rose Wall released her report about the case today.
The name of the Care Group Ltd support worker and the 20-year-old man have been withheld.
A fire broke out at the support worker's home in 2012, after he had locked the 20-year-old man inside with another client when he went out to get food.
The 20-year-old man was non-verbal, had complex disability needs and required one-to-one care.
The support worker left the house about 7.30pm with his young child, locking both clients in his home, before the fire broke out and killed the 20-year-old man, who was unable to get out of the house.
The support worker was rostered to care for both men but Care Group Limited told the commission it believed a family member was looking after one of the clients.
He said he had only received a one-day first aid training and one day of practical training before looking after the two clients.
The commission found the support worker did not provide services with "reasonable care and skill" by caring for the two clients as well as his own young child at one time, and for leaving the young man unsupervised and locked in his home.
Failures were also found in Care Group Ltd's monitoring of care, training and rostering systems, the findings stated.
"The agency's care planning and record-keeping was suboptimal," Ms Wall said.
She said the support worker and Care Group Ltd should make written apologies to the 20-year-old man's family.
She also recommended the Ministry of Health should consider reviewing the management, monitoring and reporting requirements of clients receiving individualised funding for disabilities.
The principal of the school where the 20-year-old man was a student told the commission he needed "constant supervision".
"He was a young man with very complex needs. He was treasured by the staff who worked with him, and carried a lot of mana. He earned [a nickname] and had a very honourable place within our school," he said.
Both the support worker and Care Group Ltd have been referred to the commission's Director of Proceedings to determine whether further action should be taken.
