Audit reveals care concerns

An emergency audit of a Christchurch rest home has raised concerns over the levels of patient restraint being used and problems with its dietary service.

The audit of the Windermere rest home in Papanui said the problems resulted from "poor management and of clinical leadership".

The Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) will not release details of the problems identified.

A Windermere staff member raised concerns in October, saying residents were not being helped out of bed until mid-afternoon and not being showered or fed properly.

Staffing levels were "disgraceful" and residents were being "neglected", the staff member said.

The health board announced a two-week issues-based audit of the home five days later.

Healthcare Compliance Solutions was paid about $4000 to do the audit.

The Press requested a copy of the audit report under the Official Information Act in December and was at first denied on the grounds it contained details of residents and staff.

After requesting a copy with any private details removed, the board this week sent a one-page "summary", including 10 bullet points of issues raised.

They included the workplace culture and staff relations, lack of clinical leadership, problems with the dietary service, concerns about levels of patient restraint, lack of responsiveness to the concerns of staff, and complaints from residents and families.

The audit also identified issues that were not in line with contract and standards requirements, including documentation standards, medication, care planning, family involvement and cleanliness of the facility.

"In general, the issues were the result of poor management and clinical leadership within the facility," the summary said.

"The owner of Windermere, Oceania Group, has taken steps to address each issue."

The Press has requested further details about the "issues raised" that the CDHB is considering.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation organiser John Miller said it was important details of the audit report be made public.

He said the union had written to Oceania Group a week before allegations of understaffing and related issues appeared in The Press.

He was told the concerns were not valid.

"It needs to be acknowledged that the person who spoke up was telling the truth and it was not a `load of crock' as [Oceania chief executive] Geoff Hipkins said," Miller said.