Aged care sector needs sweeping reform, woman with elderly parents says
Photo:
123RF
A woman has moved her elderly parents out of multiple rehab and respite facilities because of serious concerns including over-crowding, mistakes with medication and unchanged soiled bedding.
She said sweeping reform is needed in aged care.
The woman, Sandy*, said earlier this year her father, who has dementia, was discharged from a hospital in the middle of the night in his pyjamas because there was no longer a bed for him.
RNZ has revealed there is a
20 bed ward at North Shore Hospital
full of patients with no medical reason to be there, but there is nowhere suitable for them to go because of their complex discharge needs, requiring specialist nursing and allied health workforces.
That prompted Sandy to contact
Checkpoint
about her experience.
She believes the system is already overstretched and it is only going to get worse with an ageing population.
Sandy told
Checkpoint
she had moved her parents from four or five facilities in the past year, for a raft of reasons.
"Not enough space, the food is not nutritional... there's not enough people, you're getting a shower if you're lucky every third or fourth day."
She said she had been told the lack of showers was standard.
"People will get a shower about twice a week... we were told at every single facility, 'no, you get shower twice a week, that's our standard of care'."
Lack of separation between patients was another issue Sandy raised, with many patients, including those with dementia, sharing wards.
"There's no delineation often with dementia patients, so there are buzzers going all day and all night, people going in each other's room, six people to a bathroom, televisions going at 90 decibels, day and night."
In busier times, she said she had seen patients sharing a room.
On one occasion a lack of staffing led to her mother, a patient at the facility herself, to be caring for another patient.
"There was a woman in the room next door who cried all day and all night and it was my mother who was there meant to be being looked after, who ended up caring for this woman because the carers didn't know what to do with her."
Sandy said her elderly father had also been treated poorly.
She said her elderly father was made to leave the hospital in the middle of the night due to a lack of beds.
"My father, who was at end of life, [at] 3am was put in a taxi in his pyjamas with no shoes and sent back home because they didn't have a bed for him."
The incident shocked her.
"I was just staggered, absolutely. You know, if someone had told me that story, I would have said no, that can't be right."
Sandy said her father had also been given the wrong doses of medication.
"A double dose of medication and then a few weeks later, the wrong medication."
She said while the situations had been dealt with well by the facility, she was worried for vulnerable people who did not have someone looking out for them.
"What about the people that don't have a Sandy? What about the people who don't have a voice? How many other mistakes? How many other things are being overlooked?"
Sandy said she had experienced a raft of issues in facilities and hospitals, once being told by the hospital that soiled beds did not get changed on a Sunday.
"It's just such a stretched system. We could probably do with double the number of carers, double the number of doctors, double the number of beds and that wouldn't be enough.
"I think it's such a systemic problem and I don't know the answer, but it's sweeping reform... it is depressing."
Checkpoint
has sought comment on this story from Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora.
*Not her real name
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Aged care sector needs sweeping reform, woman with elderly parents says
Sandy said she had experienced a raft of issues in both aged care facilities and hospitals that her parents had stayed in. Photo: 123RF A woman has moved her elderly parents out of multiple rehab and respite facilities because of serious concerns including over-crowding, mistakes with medication and unchanged soiled bedding. She said sweeping reform is needed in aged care. The woman, Sandy*, said earlier this year her father, who has dementia, was discharged from a hospital in the middle of the night in his pyjamas because there was no longer a bed for him. RNZ has revealed there is a 20 bed ward at North Shore Hospital full of patients with no medical reason to be there, but there is nowhere suitable for them to go because of their complex discharge needs, requiring specialist nursing and allied health workforces. That prompted Sandy to contact Checkpoint about her experience. She believes the system is already overstretched and it is only going to get worse with an ageing population. Sandy told Checkpoint she had moved her parents from four or five facilities in the past year, for a raft of reasons. "Not enough space, the food is not nutritional... there's not enough people, you're getting a shower if you're lucky every third or fourth day." She said she had been told the lack of showers was standard. "People will get a shower about twice a week... we were told at every single facility, 'no, you get shower twice a week, that's our standard of care'." Lack of separation between patients was another issue Sandy raised, with many patients, including those with dementia, sharing wards. "There's no delineation often with dementia patients, so there are buzzers going all day and all night, people going in each other's room, six people to a bathroom, televisions going at 90 decibels, day and night." In busier times, she said she had seen patients sharing a room. On one occasion a lack of staffing led to her mother, a patient at the facility herself, to be caring for another patient. "There was a woman in the room next door who cried all day and all night and it was my mother who was there meant to be being looked after, who ended up caring for this woman because the carers didn't know what to do with her." Sandy said her elderly father had also been treated poorly. She said her elderly father was made to leave the hospital in the middle of the night due to a lack of beds. "My father, who was at end of life, [at] 3am was put in a taxi in his pyjamas with no shoes and sent back home because they didn't have a bed for him." The incident shocked her. "I was just staggered, absolutely. You know, if someone had told me that story, I would have said no, that can't be right." Sandy said her father had also been given the wrong doses of medication. "A double dose of medication and then a few weeks later, the wrong medication." She said while the situations had been dealt with well by the facility, she was worried for vulnerable people who did not have someone looking out for them. "What about the people that don't have a Sandy? What about the people who don't have a voice? How many other mistakes? How many other things are being overlooked?" Sandy said she had experienced a raft of issues in facilities and hospitals, once being told by the hospital that soiled beds did not get changed on a Sunday. "It's just such a stretched system. We could probably do with double the number of carers, double the number of doctors, double the number of beds and that wouldn't be enough. "I think it's such a systemic problem and I don't know the answer, but it's sweeping reform... it is depressing." Checkpoint has sought comment on this story from Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora. *Not her real name Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
