Hawke's Bay DHB denies long wait for those needing aged-care facilities

Dr Lucy Fergus works with engAGE and says most people tell her they want to be able to stay in their own home rather than go into aged residential care. Photo / Supplied

The Hawke's Bay DHB says people needing to be in a residential aged-care facility usually wait only a matter of days for a bed, and the focus is on supporting people to stay in their own homes as long as possible.

The organisation was responding to a new report compiled by lobby group the New Zealand Aged Care Association (NZACA) that showed elderly people in Hawke's Bay had to wait an average of 9.7 months after first hitting a high MAPLe (method of assigning priority level) score (4+) in a home-care assessment before they were admitted to an aged-care facility.

Chief medical and dental officer Dr John Gommans said the report did not provide the full picture, including access to services that allowed older people to remain at home if they preferred that option.

Gommans said in Hawke's Bay the focus and investment had been to help older people stay independent in their own homes for longer, with wraparound care to support them and their families in that decision.

"We have worked very hard to provide a wide range of community-based care and services that work with older people who choose to stay in their own homes. Many people don't want to be in an aged residential care facility if there are alternative options."

Gommans said the DHB had only received the report on Wednesday night this week so had not had an opportunity to fully review the data used, but the report failed to acknowledge that assessments for care did not only determine possible suitability to residential care, but also for access to increased home support services.

"No-one who needs to be in an aged residential care facility in Hawke's Bay is denied a bed, and neither do they wait in a queue.

"There are usually beds available in aged residential care facilities in Hawke's Bay but we don't force people into them – it's every person's choice."

Gommans said programmes, such as engAGE delivered by the DHB or Enliven delivered by Presbyterian Support Services East Coast, helped older people remain in their own homes, and were what older people had asked for.

"While aged residential care facilities provide a good service when it's needed, we would always want our older people to have a choice and be supported in that choice."

Dr Lucy Fergus worked with the engAGE service and said most people told her they wanted to be in independent in their home as long as they could.

"I think the report is a bit misleading - they are indicating people with high MAPLe scores are waiting a long time to enter aged residential care, and it looks like the score is being used as a signal that people should be entering residential care.

"In fact the MAPLe score is a priority indicator, and a higher score means you are a priority to receive services which would prevent you going to hospital or into aged residential care.

"It's not a threshold - it indicates that people have high needs.

"In other areas if that support is not available people do not have choices - having heard what our older people wanted Hawke's Bay has invested heavily in the support services that enable them to stay at home longer - so in fact we are doing well."

A DHB spokesperson said home care providers were audited against national Home and Community Support Sector Standards.

The DHB had contracts with all of its providers for home-based care, and organisations which were contracted for that were obliged to fulfil their duties including providing quality and safe care.

Contracts were regularly reviewed, and people could complain directly to the DHB if they weren't happy with their level of service. Complaints would always be followed up. If there were still concerns people could contact the Health and Disability Commissioner

They added that the DHB was in daily contact with rest homes and, as of Wednesday morning this week, half of the 26 facilities in Hawke's Bay that offered a rest-home level of care had vacancies.