A Christchurch home for intellectually disabled people has been put under temporary management after concerns raised by family members.

The Mary Moodie Family Trust runs two Ferry Rd homes for 12 people with varying intellectual disabilities.

A Health Ministry spokeswoman said a temporary manager was put in the homes yesterday to "see what's happening on the ground".

The facility is the third Canterbury home for vulnerable people to be taken over by health authorities within three months.

The Canterbury District Health Board appointed temporary managers to Wiltshire Lifecare in Rangiora in July and Bermuda House in Upper Riccarton last month after complaints about the standard of care.

Group manager of disability support services Toni Atkinson said the ministry had been working with the trust for some time on "relationship issues" between staff and residents. She did not know how many complaints had been made.

The number of concerns raised had been increasing "more and more" over the past couple of months, she said.

Atkinson said the temporary manager met the homes' manager yesterday and the pair "had a good discussion about how they go forward".

"The temporary manager will be looking at the quality of care that's provided," she said.

"She'll be talking to the residents' families and the residents themselves and trying to get a picture of just what the care is like there."

The temporary manager would then work with the manager and the board to make any changes. It was not known how long the process would take "as we really need to know more about the scale of the issues", she said.

Trust chairwoman Rosemary Sladen said the trust was "very proud of our facility".

‘It's very well run ... It's a beautiful facility."

The trust was "very concerned" for its residents but looked forward to working with the ministry, she said.

"We're very pleased to have the ministry there because we feel this is a way through any problems," she said.

Temporary managers can be appointed to care facilities by a district health board or the ministry, but in this case one was appointed by the ministry because it had received the complaints.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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