Abuse concerns for elderly

The sub-standard care that led to the closure of Belhaven rest home in Epsom wasn’t a surprise according to a leading expert in the prevention of abuse towards the elderly.

Elder abuse co-ordinator for Age Concern Auckland, Emsie Walters, says she hopes it was a one-off case, but has concerns about the whole sector.

She says many homes are so stretched that a sequence of events leading to sub-standard care being given, such as the abuse at the Belhaven, could have happened anywhere.

Despite the closure of the Epsom rest home, Walters says not everything was bad. “I know there were some good carers there.”

She says standards at many homes vary and that her charity has been working with Auckland District Health Board to improve aged-care across the sector.

 “Some homes are very good, but there are some that aren’t quite up to standard,” says Walters.

Problems for many rest homes stem from the fact they are run on tight finances, inadequate staffing and training, she says.

Walters says many staff are carers rather than trained nurses, pay is often low, and workers are made up of different ages and cultures.

She says low pay means many workers might be working two jobs or have young families meaning they might not be as focussed on their work as they might be.

Multi-cultural differences between staff and patients are misunderstood and not tackled. “Different cultures speak differently, and to an older person, that can be scary.”

She says for many elderly in care, making a complaint is difficult.

“Many are frightened to complain or tell family,” she says, adding that even then the options for moving the person may be difficult to organise and limited.

She says finding a good nursing home for many families is “pot luck”.

Often families don’t know what to look for and have to just trust the care home as they can’t be there 24 hours a day, she says.

Walters says family should visit their relative regularly, look for changes, and act quickly on issues.

She says the problem of elder-abuse needs more money and more attention. “It’s just not high profile”.

Walters would like to see the sector function like the child protection sector which she says, “has other experts on hand”, and calls for agencies involved to work more closely together.

Care homes are currently audited by six agencies before being able to operate.

The Belhaven rest home had passed its previous audit, although issues had been recognised, resulting in a shorter certification period being given, and increased spot checks.

Rose Wall, quality and safety manager at the Ministry of Health, says they are looking at a initiatives to improve the audit process.

She says, increased spot checks and unannounced audits are being considered along with making more information about rest homes publicly available.

Walters says residential care home abuse makes up only a small part of her workload, and that most of cases stem from domestic violence, much of it long-term.