David Naulls

This month we've added more information to our August rest homes article. We make no apology for focusing again on the area of institutional rest-home care.

This is a big industry: the government spends over $1 billion a year on care services for people aged 65 and over – a large chunk of this pays for residential care.

It will also be a growing industry because of the rapid ageing of our population. Just the sheer scale of public funding means that there are important public-policy issues in the standards of care that the sector provides.

The cases we have highlighted show there’s a need for much greater transparency – it remains to be seen whether the Ministry of Health’s improved spot auditing will shine the necessary light.

There seems no good reason why the information we have published is not publicly available. Consumers need full and balanced information before they can make important choices about any product or service. They’re not getting it currently for rest homes. The need for transparency is doubly important when we’re dealing with a vulnerable group of consumers such as older people who need residential care.

One large for-profit rest-home provider – Oceania – publishes on its website the results of routine audits of its facilities. This allows consumers to ask the home about any problems identified in the audit and what’s been done to rectify them.

We think all other rest homes should follow Oceania’s example.

We haven’t singled out the for-profit sector – it’s just we currently have inspection-report information about some of their homes. But we are surprised that large and seemingly well-resourced commercial enterprises have had some of these documented problems. The involvement of the for-profit sector is a growing trend in rest-home provision; it needs to make sure it’s operating to the highest possible standards.

Similar problems may exist in not-for-profit or smaller providers. But we don’t know – and that’s the point.

We reiterate our call for mandatory public reporting of key indicators of care – including staffing levels and negative health indicators such as infections, weight loss, pressure sores, depression, and decreased mobility in residents.

David Naulls
Editor
Consumer magazine

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• Rest homes - our investigations into rest home care, and a free checklist to help choose a good home.

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