DHB releases damning audit of rest home

MidCentral District Health Board has released a damning audit report of Palmerston North's Rosa A Lea Rest Home, which it closed last month.

However the New Zealand Aged Care Association has branded the closure "reckless".

The DHB's report, which was issued yesterday, slammed the facility's patient care, hygiene standards, staff training and lack of registered nurse supervision.

Alarm about the home was sparked after photos came to light of a 103-year-old woman tied to her bed with a sheet.

The rest home was found to have failed more than 60 industry accepted practices, as well as legislation and agreement breaches.

The DHB's general manager funding division, Mike Grant, said the report was prepared by independent auditors from the Central Region's Technical Advisory Service (TAS).

"There were significant issues relating to the standard of care provided, poor incident management processes, unacceptable method of restraint, medication management, food services, insufficient cleaning standards and general hazards which placed residents at risk of harm."

But New Zealand Aged Care Association chief executive Martin Taylor said the home had been hurriedly closed down against the wishes of residents and their families.

"While the accuracy of the audit report is questionable in some areas, we do accept that improvements needed to be made to the building and the book keeping. But these could have been done within a few weeks and would have saved the facility and residents' community."

Mr Taylor disputed the independence of the audit process as Central TAS was owned by six North Island DHBs.

"We note that Mike Grant from the DHB who made the decision to close Rose A Lea was also acting CEO of Central TAS recently."

It was also important to understand the home was closed before the audit report was written, which raised issues of procedural fairness and natural justice, he said.

"The report also contains factual errors which the auditors refuse to correct. For example the report says that the facility had no current building warrant of fitness.

"However, the building did have a current warrant of fitness, and a copy of the certificate was given to the auditors on 17 November, and again last week. The question we have is why Central TAS refused to alter an incorrect finding?"

Mr Taylor said the closure of the home was done with "reckless speed".

"The question we all have to ask is was the hurried closure of Rose A Lea in the best interests of the 15 residents? The answer to that is a resounding no. As such the MidCentral DHB managers who made these poor decisions need to be held to account."

Today, Mr Grant told Radio New Zealand he believed the audit was "robust".

"At the end of the day it doesn't matter what sort of auditing tool you use, rat poison in the pantry is rat poison. Vegetables that are decomposing are vegetables that are contaminated."

He said improvements to the DHB's auditing system were continuing so rest homes like the Rose A Lea did not slip through the cracks again.

"This (rest home) industry really needs to lift its game."

He said special audits had been completed on 25 per cent of the rest homes around his area, which had found "significant issues".

They were working with those homes to ensure they come up to scratch, he said.

- NZPA