Editorial: Yet another rest home under fire

OPINION: Yet another rest home in our region is under the spotlight of health authorities.

As reported in today's Manawatu Standard , Palmerston North's Aroha Lifecare has been given a simple ultimatum – to improve its level of care or run the risk of losing its contract with MidCentral District Health Board.

During the past six months rest homes have come under intense scrutiny for their practices, their care and the conditions many elderly and infirm people have to live with.

There are some interesting takes on what the run of inquiries into rest homes means for our region and some interesting questions raised.

For example, is it that we are over-represented with rest homes that need to lift their game or is our DHB policing the situation in a much firmer manner than the country's 20 other health boards?

If we are over-represented that should raise some serious alarm bells, but on a national scale we should be even more concerned if rest-home failings are a bigger issue around the country and aren't being properly investigated or acted on.

The rest-home sector is a booming one that will, sooner than we realise, be full of baby boomers. The simple equation of an ageing population and longer life expectancy means the demand and pressure on them will only rise.

In a strange way, we should be pleased the DHB is holding rest homes to a high level of accountability. It is also healthy that all the matters raised recently are publicly aired and discussed. Naming rest homes that haven't come up to scratch is not a witch hunt.

Other parts of our life, such as schools and workplaces, are constantly checked and audited, so rest homes should be no different, especially considering they house and care for some of our community's most vulnerable.

Most rest homes are privately owned businesses with owners and shareholders who expect to turn a profit, so it is crucial they are held to account by organisations such as district health boards.

In the past the rest-home sector has criticised MidCentral Health for being too harsh and unrealistic in its assessment and has downplayed many of its criticisms of homes it has contracts with.

But if the audits, reports and checks result in improved conditions for our elderly citizens then all the publicity is worth every second of it. It'll be interesting to see what the reaction is to Palmerston North Mayor Jono Naylor's thoughts about the developments at The Plaza shopping centre. He claims the new additions due to open later this month won't have much impact on the city's traditional shopping precincts, such as Broadway Ave. While the number of stores shifting from outside the mall to in it are small, the overall package the centre offers will no doubt put extra pressure on those not in it.

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