A woman with autism and epilepsy is suing an Adelaide residential care facility over severe injuries she suffered from a hot bath which a nurse allegedly tried to cover up.
The 35-year-old woman's parents claim she suffered burns to 30 percent of her body in March 2011 after being left in bath water exceeding 60 degrees Celsius for fifteen minutes by a nurse who was not supposed to be looking after her, the ABC reports.
The woman was living at the Braham Lodge, operated by Disability SA and the South Australian Department of Communities and Social Inclusion, and owned by the Intellectual Disability Accommodation Association.
The woman is suing the department and the association for undisclosed damages including medical costs and legal costs, claiming the parties failed in their duty of care.
The department will dispute the claims set to be heard next month.
Documents filed in the suit claim the woman was left unattended in the hot water, which scalded her skin.
The patient was being supervised by a nurse who her parents had requested in 2004 not to look after their daughter because they "didn't have confidence" in their ability to provide adequate care for her.
The woman's parents allege the carer "was aware or should have known that (their daughter) had an increased risk of injury, including drowning, due to her excitement around water, her...epilepsy and her underlying intellectual disability".
The parents claim the nurse returned to the bathroom, saw the severe burns and then rubbed the woman down with a towel, causing her skin to shed.
They allege the carer tried to hide the woman's skin in towels throughout the facility while returning the patient to her room without providing first aid, calling an ambulance or notifying management.
Another carer called an ambulance after she noticed the scalding later in the morning.
The suit alleges the woman had to undergo several skin-graft operations and suffered seizures for a week leading to adverse effects such as causing her to "become much more withdrawn".
"Since the incident the plaintiff has not had a bath, (something) she previously enjoyed," the court documents state.
The department has not commented on the incident because it undergoing legal proceedings.
