Mr Ryall: stop DHBs cutting home support – Age Concern

Stopping home support services isn't 'low risk' and it's counter-productive, says Age Concern New Zealand.

"We oppose changes to older people's home support and want Mr Ryall to stop DHBs cutting domestic assitance. Their actions seem contrary to Government's aim of 'improving home-based care and access to front-line health services' and the Health ministry’s claim there'll be greater 'emphasis on development of home and community based services'," Age Concern chief executive Ann Martin says.

DHB manager David Chrisp today classified cuts as "relativity low risk". Age Concern says this shows blithe ignorance of the precarious position of some older people in our communities.

"People who have already been properly assessed as needing help are being arbitrarily cut. The bar is set very high: you have to have low income, no support people and real needs or be in danger, so home support is not easy to get."

"They're trivialising the importance of home support," Ann Martin says.

"It's easy to be smug and say a bit of dirt doesn't hurt. However, dirt can hurt when it leads to a broken hip, depression, or illness cause by hygiene problems.

"It's also simplistic to say that losing a bit of home support won't tip people into expensive rest home care."

Age Concern says DHB managers don't understand the reality for vulnerable older people.

"It’s the 'straw that breaks the camel's back' syndrome – what seems to be a minor change can have drastic consequences."

Age Concern also rejects the claim that if older people really needed these services, they'd pay for them themselves.

"Most older people have about $300 a week to live on and every dollar is already accounted for. DHBs want people to shift to commercial home cleaning services. This would be at least $20 and more realistically $30 per week – ten percent of their weekly income. It's not possible; something else vital would have to go."

Age Concern is advising everyone who receives a letter arbitrarily cutting off their home support to demand a face-to-face assessment so assessors can get an accurate picture of their real situation. It also says it's important that older people speak up.

ENDS

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