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The future home of the elderly woman whose mouth was taped shut by an Auckland rest home worker will be decided after she has been medically assessed.
The police said yesterday the family of the woman, aged in her 70s, were happy for her to remain at the
Belhaven Rest Home in Epsom following the incident there on Friday, pending the outcome of official investigations and a medical assessment.
Police are investigating the incident as an alleged assault and the Ministry of Health is conducting inquiries to decide whether the home can remain open.
It has been claimed the worker stuck wide medical tape across the woman's mouth and jaw because she was making too much noise. The woman is deaf and cannot speak.
The district health board is sending in a medical specialist to assess residents at Belhaven.
Auckland District Health Board's planning and funding officer Denis Jury said in a written statement that a specialist geriatrician was being sent in at the request of the Ministry of Health.
He said the long-term options for the residents were also being looked at.
"However, it should be noted that as long as a rest home meets the clinical needs and appropriate welfare standards of a resident, the choice of the specific rest home is a matter for the resident and their family to choose, not DHB direction," Dr Jury said.
The head of the police inquiry, Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Cramer said yesterday that two detectives had been assigned to the case.
"We know who the individual [the sacked worker] is. They have yet to be spoken to. We've spoken to the victim's family. They are obviously very upset by what's gone on and by the publication of the photo in the Sunday News."
The newspaper ran the cellphone photo - with part of the woman's face obscured - which was taken by a tradesman visiting Belhaven, who blew the whistle over the abuse.
One News tracked down the alleged worker - a former cook at the rest home - at home yesterday.
She said the elderly woman had put tape over her own mouth. But when the woman tried to take it off, the cook put it back.
She apologised for the incident.
"I think it's wrong because you're not supposed to do that."
When asked if she thought what she did was abuse, she replied: "Yeah abuse, I feel it is."
And asked if she was ashamed, she said: "Yes I am because I like the woman, I like those people ... what happened, I'm sorry about that."
She said she had not put tape over the woman's mouth any other time.
Mr Cramer said the woman's next of kin were happy for her to stay at Belhaven "because she's been in that environment for some years and it is her home".
An Auckland District Health Board geriatric specialist is to assess the level of care provided to all 12 residents of Belhaven today.
"Based on this decision, we will then look at long-term options for the residents," said the board's chief funding and planning officer, Denis Jury.
But he said the choice over which home residents lived in was up to them and their families, providing the home met the person's clinical and welfare needs.
The board provides funding to contracted residential care facilities, including Belhaven, but only if they are certified by the ministry.
A ministry spokeswoman said its investigation, which could lead to a range of outcomes, including the appointment of a monitor to run Belhaven or even its closure, might take several more days.
Age Concern chief executive Ann Martin said at least two older people were abused or neglected every day in New Zealand, the majority by members of their own family.
She commended the tradesman for reporting what he saw at Belhaven.
More allegations of neglect at the rest home surfaced last night.
Mary Ann Noble told Close Up her mother Joan was denied medical treatment, and she has taken her out of Belhaven.
A healthcare worker Laraine McRae told the show abuse at rest homes was not uncommon and she had seen residents physically abused.
* Belhaven's view
The rest home advertises that it provides "high quality residential care for the elderly".
It specialises in brain injuries and psycho-geriatric residents.
Staff attend ongoing training and education.
It is a "charming old villa surrounded by a lovely garden in Epsom, within flat walking distance of the local shops and amenities".
