By Residential Care NZ and NZ Private Hospital Association

Auckland’s DHBs Fail Resthome Residents and Providers

The announcement by Auckland District Health Board that it plans to cut back on residential care to save money has created an environment of fear in elderly residents and providers of rest home care.

“Without warning elderly residents in Auckland DHBs area are worrying whether they will have to shift and providers are concerned about whether they will lose their livelihoods.

“I acknowledge that Auckland DHB has a lot more elderly people wishing to live in their area but to announce this policy without consultation with providers or the elderly shows an arrogance of approach that seems to pervade many DHBs.

“They are not dealing with cost generating units, they are dealing with people”, said Martin Taylor CEO of Residential Care New Zealand.

DHBs need to establish a system where funding transfers with the person – so that if an elderly person in the North Shore chooses to live within Auckland DHBs boundaries they bring funding with them from North Shore DHB.

This situation also shows that the devolution of contracts from the Ministry of Health to DHBs was poorly planned and implemented.

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