Friday 3 July, 2015

Allen Bryant residents updated

The West Coast District Health Board is working hard to keep the most vulnerable and dependent older people in their local areas after flooding forced the evacuation of a Hokitika rest home last month.

At a meeting last night the DHB and aged residential care provider Ultimate Care Group told relocated residents of Ultimate Care Allen Bryant and their families that they are doing everything possible to ensure the health and welfare of residents displaced from their Hokitika aged residential care home.

West Coast Liaison Geriatrician Dr Michelle Dhanak says the DHB has been looking at all aged residential care beds on the West Coast to understand where there might be capacity and what level of care is offered in those facilities, including rest home, hospital, dementia, and disability support services.

Rooms at Grey Base Hospital temporarily named “the Allen Bryant space” have been extended and Allen Bryant staff are providing care to residents who have been relocated there while their home is repaired.

“The goal is to keep the most vulnerable and dependent people in the local area. As we approach 100% occupancy in any of our regional areas - being Hokitika, Grey and Reefton - we will work with residents and families to make the difficult decision to move the least vulnerable residents to another West Coast region or further afield, likely to Canterbury. Over the next week we will talk through with residents and their families/whanau the process of how we assess our residents’ care needs” Dr Dhanak says.

The Complex Clinical Care Network staff are also working with those Allen Bryant residents [and families] who have returned to the community to ensure their needs are met with home-based supports, Allied Health [physiotherapy / occupational therapy / social work] and community nursing.

“We are working collaboratively with all of the aged residential care providers on the West Coast. Our challenge is that we must ensure equity of access to residential care beds for everyone requiring our services,” Dr Dhanak says.

The DHB was also mindful about other people on the Coast who will need rest home, hospital or dementia level residential care or respite in the coming months.
“As these people present themselves through the health system, their needs will be discussed and assessed using the same process used for Allen Bryant residents, to ensure equity of access.

“We understand this is a difficult time for everyone. We are very mindful of making sure decisions are fair, minimise harm, protect the vulnerable, and that the process is transparent,” she says.

“We also want to reassure people that we will not be moving any residents without first talking to them and their families,” she says.

The owners of Ultimate Care Allen Bryant have been moving ahead with the rehabilitation of the facility.

Ultimate Care Group Chief Executive Liza Cox-Hancy says the company is exploring every avenue to progress a staged rebuild – to allow for faster recovery of beds and to relieve the pressure in the DHB system as a result of this significant event.

“Demolition work at the facility is complete and it is now able to dry out. The assessors and insurance company are moving with haste during this drying time to appoint a contractor to commence the rebuild.”

ends

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