An Australian woman who discovered her 86-year-old mother was allegedly abused in care after installing cameras is calling for surveillance in every nursing home room.
Former journalist Lisa Backhouse delivered a testimony yesterday to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety in Darwin.
She listed her mother, Christine Weightman's, alleged mistreatment in Brisbane nursing homes. It included being hit on two occasions, being left without a blanket on a cold night and being left distressed in wet bedsheets.
Ms Backhouse told Nine News she believed her mother's discomfort caused most of her falls, one of which smashed her leg in two places and another causing severe facial injuries.
Her mother suffers from dementia.
"You might be shocked by what you see in there. I certainly was," Ms Backhouse said of the surveillance footage.
"I felt completely powerless to be able to protect her and to ensure that her basic safety and human needs were being met."
She made a plea for harsher penalties.
"The regulator has to be given punitive powers in order to be able to fine and penalise nursing homes that fail in their duty of care.
"The incidents she's endured over the past six months I believe have certainly contributed to her demise," she said.
ABC reported Ms Backhouse said her mother was still a resident in a home where she was allegedly abused.
The hearings will conclude today.
SHARE ME