Waikato DHB responds to rest home media reports

Waikato DHB holds agreements for the provision of long-term age-related residential care services with 55 facilities in the Waikato DHB region.

Residential care services are provided to our most vulnerable older people (around  7% of all people over the age of 65 years).

The care provided is safe and effective most of the time for the approximately 2400 residents receiving long-term residential care in the Waikato DHB region.

From time-to-time there are opportunities for providers to review their systems and practices in response to specific issues that arise.

In these instances the DHB provides additional support to the facility in the form of clinical specialist review and advice to ensure there are no repeats.

Waikato DHB’s Nursing Professional Development Unit leads a very successful series of clinical leadership and gerontology nurse practice courses and seminars for Non Government Organisation (NGO) residential care providers. These courses are fully funded by the DHB. All DHB Learning and Development programmes are available to NGO staff.

All facilities are required to be compliant with both the Health and Disability Sector Standards and the Age-related Residential Care Agreement.

Services are regularly monitored by the DHB and audited by the Ministry of Health.  Certification data shows that Waikato DHB’s facilities are improving in their rates of compliance all the time with increasing numbers of facilities being certified for longer periods of time.  

Full audit reports of all Waikato DHB residential care facilities are available on the Ministry of Health Website at www.health.govt.nz (external link)    

The DHB’s Quality and Patient Safety service receive and act on any formal complaints or concerns sent to the DHB and follows up on areas where investigations have substantiated concerns.

The DHB also responds to requests from the Ministry of Health and the Health and Disability Commissioner to monitor any corrective actions that have been required to improve the service delivered to residents.

Seniorline (0800 725 463) receives queries from the public on behalf of all DHBs and alerts Waikato DHB to any trends or concerns in regard to specific facilities.

Waikato DHB maintains regular telephone, face-to-face and email contact with each facility, providing information and updates to all service managers.
The DHB attempts to maintain a ‘no surprises’ approach where potential issues are identified as early as possible.

Engagement with the sector is on-going, with quality groups, forums and seminars hosted by the DHB to provide open discussion on matters of concern around delivery of safe care.

ENDS

Contact:

Mary Anne Gill
Communications Director
Waikato District Health Board
Ph: 07 834 3684
Mobile: 021 705 213

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