Audit information helps to assess care in rest homes

Audit information helps to assess care in rest homes

“Having full audit reports will provide people with detailed information to help assess care provided in rest homes,” said Ann Martin, CEO of Age Concern New Zealand. She was commenting on the recent introduction of full audit reports on the Ministry of Health’s website. “Many, but not all people will be interested in the level of detail provided.” She added.

The full reports provide details on how well the Health and Disability Standards and service contract with the DHB are met by a facility. They also include details about where the rest home fell short and what needed to be done as well as when the corrective action needed to be completed. People will have more information to compare the performance of one rest home against another. This will be helpful for older people who need or may need rest home care in the future.

“It must be remembered that these audits reports are on national standards.” Ms Martin said. “The information will be helpful. However, to really be able to assess whether a rest home might be right for you or not, you should take time to visit to see and get a feel for it. You can then see how happy the residents seem; how staff interact, whether they are respectful, courteous, positive. You can see how many staff there are and how attentively the emergency buttons are answered. You can view the living quarters and form an opinion as to whether they appeal. You can ask about planned activities and events as well as levels of personal autonomy.”

Age Concern’s advice is also to get a copy of the admission agreement to see what services are provided such as nursing and care, accommodation, food, prescription medications, transport to health services. It recommends asking about additional charges for extra services such as having private telephone, personal toiletries, specialist visits and transport to events.

Ms Martin thought a further advantage of having full audits reports on rest homes was that the poorly performing ones would feel more exposed. “So we would expect them to make significant efforts to lift their game and provide the standard of care required by people needing rest home level care.”

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