Unsafe staffing levels reported

Half of the 92 aged-care homes in Canterbury are reporting unsafe staffing levels with family members of residents expressing anxiety about a drop in the standard of care.

Nationally, 19% of aged-care homes reported unsafe staffing levels in July, according to Te Whatu Ora.

Aged residential care providers are required to notify the Ministry of Health of any shift where insufficient registered nurses (RN) caused a health and safety risk for residents, a spokesperson said.

Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury redeployed 100 of its own staff to support aged-care homes in July, senior responsible officer for winter planning Becky Hickmott said.

‘‘... the action we take depends on the exact situation and what mitigation measures that the facility has in place. Some facilities need more support than others.’’

About 80% of aged-care homes in the Canterbury region have been affected by Covid-19 infections among residents, staff or both, Hickmott said.

Nationally, there were 537 rest home residents with Covid-19 across 172 facilities, of 656 in total.

Age Concern Canterbury chief executive Simon Templeton said staff at the organisation were taking more calls from anxious family members, concerned about a drop in the level of care for their loved ones.

Concerns raised included family members not getting basic personal care such as showering and dressing, or very late in the day and a lack of social contact, especially when a facility had active Covid-19 cases and had closed to visitors, Templeton said.

Templeton encouraged anyone who was worried to raise concerns with the facility. In more extreme cases the organisation could advocate for a resident by speaking to the provider, or helping with a complaint to the Aged Care Commissioner.

Aged-care providers across the country had sent about 1500 ‘‘section 31’’ safety notifications to the director-general of health this year, Aged Care Association of New Zealand chief executive Simon Wallace said.

In 2021, about 800 notifications were sent for the whole year.

He said facilities had closed nearly 1000 beds across the country due to short staffing.

‘‘As a sector, aged-care providers would rather close beds than compromise the quality of care.’’

The daughter of a 93-year-old North Canterbury rest home resident who had two falls in one day is worried about the impact of short-staffing on her mother’s care.

The elderly aged-care resident needed treatment for a gash on her forehead by paramedics after falling while on her way to the bathroom on Saturday. She fell a second time just before 7pm, and staff then rang the daughter’s mobile phone, she said.

‘‘... to have my mother fall twice in one day and not be contacted about it for seven hours, I think is completely unacceptable,’’ the woman said.

She had since received an apology from the rest home for the poor communication and was now being regularly updated about her mother’s condition.

A Covid-19 outbreak means the woman has not been able to visit her profoundly deaf mother, who is unable to communicate by phone, for two weeks.

On Monday, the woman’s mother tested positive for Covid19, and was treated with antivirals.

‘‘That’s good, but you do really feel in the dark, and I don’t know how long it’s going to be before I can see her in person again.’’

New Zealand Nurses Organisation chair of gerontology and rest home manager Natalie Seymour said rest homes were having to prioritise care while facing ‘‘humongous’’ staffing gaps.

‘‘. . . while we’re not negating safe care, we just need to prioritise in who receives what care, and at what time, and what can we push off to a later stage or date.’’

She said updates on care and incidents to family members were happening later than was ideal, as not all staff would be confident or knowledgeable enough to do this, Seymour said.

Staff at the facility where Seymour works told her they often left work feeling guilty about not being able to provide the care the residents deserve.

‘‘They don’t have the time to spend with them, doing those small things they normally would have done, like to sit there and have a conversation while looking at photos, now it’s just very task orientated.’’

The Health and Disability Commissioner has received 95 complaints relating to aged care to June 23 this year, or about 15.8 per month.

In 2021, the commissioner received 157 complaints about aged care, or an average of 13 per month. In 2020, 143 complaints were made to the commissioner, or 11.9 per month.

Staff were taking more calls from anxious family members, concerned about a drop in the level of care for their loved ones. Simon Templeton Age Concern Canterbury chief executive