In 2010 the Green Party joined with the Labour Party and Grey power to investigate the treatment of the elderly in New Zealand.
Winnie Laban and Sue Kedgley travelled around New Zealand, talking to people in their homes and communities about the quality of care they receive.
We found there are deep seated problems in the aged care sector in New Zealand –chronic staff shortages, low wages, lack of training, extremely high staff turnover –and this affects the quality of care our elderly receive. We put togther a report which can be downloaded (see below)
The Health and Disability Commissioner, the Auditor General and others who have investigated the sector have found that many residents do not receive an appropriate standard of care.
But instead of addressing these problems, the government is targeting our vulnerable elderly, and cutting their access to home help and aged care. Thousands of elderly around New Zealand have had their home help cut, and District Health Boards are investigating ways of reducing the funding for aged care.
We are also concerned at the lack of transparency and accountability in the sector. Aged care facilities do not have to report on their medical mishaps, infection rates, and other indicators of the quality of care, so we have no idea how good or bad the standard of care is in many aged care facilities in New Zealand.
Email Sue Kedgley with your experiences of aged care in New Zealand
