Auditor-General Lyn Provost has issued a damning report on rest home care.
The report singles out the Ministry of Health for failing to provide adequate assurance that rest homes are meeting required standards.
The Auditor-General’s findings back-up our research on rest home care. Our investigations have found current auditing of the sector is failing consumers. The Ministry of Health received a “Worst” award in our annual Best and Worst Awards for this very reason.
Our research uncovered cases where rest home auditors failed to pick up serious shortcomings in care. We also found that rest homes not meeting required standards can still be certified by the Health Ministry. These findings are echoed in the Auditor-General’s report.
The quality of rest home care is a major issue for consumers. We believe rest home regulations need to be strengthened. We want homes to report on key indicators of care such as staffing ratios and infections. Facilities providing a high standard of care have nothing to fear from the release of this information.
More information
- Auditor-General’s report: www.oag.govt.nz
More from consumer.org.nz
- Rest homes – our full investigation, plus a free downloadable rest home checklist
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When the Department of Health decided to stop employing auditors, who were trained + experienced Public Health Nurses, they set up a system of contractors.Some of the previous PHN auditors,became contractors,but many more had no Nursing/ Health background.
The rest home pays for the audit, so the owner is entitled to choose from a list of contracted auditors.
This means that if they have had a poor previous rating, the new auditor,who may come from another city,or even the South Island,does not know that history, when they audit. The home knows when the audit will take place, as appointments are made.
Sometimes, the auditors who have no health care experience , can be easily fooled.
local resthomes in Hastings are advised in advance of any audits to see if they are meeting minimum requirements so have plenty of time to make things look "ok". If these audits were unannounced and carried out at various times of the day the would be in for a few shocks especially when it comes to minimum staffing levels. The staff complain of their workloads constantly but are by and large ignored by management.