KEY POINTS:
Health authorities have intervened in the running of a rest home that is being investigated over alleged abuse "to protect the health and safety of residents".
The Auckland District Health Board took the rare step of appointing a temporary manager yesterday, part-way through a Health Ministry investigation of Belhaven Rest Home in Auckland.
The investigation was triggered by a complaint a caregiver had taped a resident's mouth shut last Friday. The police are also investigating the incident as an alleged assault.
The health board's intervention occurred following an assessment by the DHB's experts in geriatric care on Tuesday of the home's 12 residents and their care plans.
One, who suffered a fall on Sunday, was admitted to Auckland City Hospital.
The temporary manager is Terry Moore, a senior official at the New Zealand Blood Service and a former ministry contracts manager with expertise in aged residential care and a doctorate in rehabilitation therapy.
"I expect to be here about eight to 10 days," Dr Moore said when the Herald visited Belhaven.
The health board's chief planning and funding officer, Denis Jury, said the funding contract with rest homes permitted a DHB to appoint a manager when a provider had breached the terms of the contract.
"In this instance there are significant concerns regarding clinical governance of the rest home," Dr Jury said.
The board and the ministry said they would not explain those concerns in further detail until the ministry's investigation was finished.
The ministry's manager of quality and safety, Rose Wall, said it was rare for health authorities to appoint a manager to a rest home. But the board and the ministry had agreed there was sufficient evidence that a change in governance was necessary "to protect the health and safety of residents" while the review was completed.
The home's owner, Patricia Hooper, did not respond to Herald inquiries yesterday.
Dr Moore said: "She's just focused on trying to deal with a lot of things."
Dr Moore said the home was adequately staffed. He had talked to the staff and residents and contacted the residents' next of kin.
"I'm just working here to support the residents and their families."
The ministry investigation includes reviewing the care plans and medical notes of the residents; looking at previous audits; and checking the home against the 42 Health and Disability Sector Standards, which cover matters such as kinds of staff, medicine management, infection control minimisation of restraint, and informed consent of patients.
