Xavier Edwards has been stuck in hospital for 12 months and just wants to go home.
In January, after Xavier had spent months in intensive care and rehabilitation, his doctors finally said he was ready to go home. “It’s like a bad dream,” said Xavier’s father, Jase Edwards, who drives about 225 kilometres from Echuca to Melbourne every three days to be with his son, sleeping on a hospital couch.Health experts have been calling for new financial incentives to speed up the discharge of patients from hospitals when they are ready to leave.
Like many Australians, Jase can’t afford to buy a home. The single father of three rents a house but it can’t be modified with ramps, widened hallways and doorways, and accessible bathrooms. When Jase returns to Echuca, Xavier’s great aunt, Sandy, drives from Bendigo in central Victoria to Melbourne to take his spot on the hospital couch and spends the next three days and nights with Xavier. “My auntie has put her life on hold for 12 months,” Jase said. “There is nothing I can do to thank her.”
An NDIA spokeswoman said the agency was working with Xavier’s family and the Victorian government to secure appropriate accommodation as quickly as possible.