10. NICKY WAGNER (National) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
What reports has he received in relation to improving residential care for the aged?
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) Link to this
There has been mounting public concern about poor care in rest homes for the elderly, and the Government has taken steps to address it. We have injected an extra $18 million in this year’s Budget to improve nursing quality and supervision in rest homes, and from 1 January next year we are launching a new spot auditing regime for aged residential care, whereby rest homes will not know when the auditors are coming. We are currently in the middle of a 2-month pilot of the tool to do that, and I understand that it is going very well. We will be making adjustments in the run-up to 1 January.
The elderly and their families need to have greater confidence in the monitoring of residential care services, and to have an opportunity to understand the various results of audits. That is why the Government has, for the first time, required a summary of the various audits of rest homes to be made available on the Ministry of Health website. The summary has an easy-to-read colour coding, ranging from blue, which means a very good performance, through the spectrum to red, and the red means significant action is needed to achieve the required levels of performance.
Hon Luamanuvao Winnie Laban Link to this
Has the Minister seen any reports from his colleague Nick Smith, who has just slashed a programme to prevent over-80s from falling, whether they choose to live at home or in a rest home?
I am aware of those reports, having read some of them in the news media. I have to say, having sat through question time today, I think the decisions and announcements that are being made are entirely defendable and make sense.
Rahui KateneDoes the Minister agree with the Māori Party, when it said in its policy statement He Aha Te Mea Nui?, that the aged-care workforce is underpaid, understaffed, and too often does not receive the training it requires in order to deliver the best care, and what will he be doing to address these concerns?