Rotorua Grey Power members help with party policy about dealing with the elderly (+video)

Green Party list MP Barry Coates addresses members of Grey Power Rotorua yesterday. Photo/Stephen Parker

Stories of underpaid staff and the physical and mental abuse of elderly people in rest homes and retirement villages may be shocking, but are a reality in New Zealand society, according to the Labour and Green parties.

Rotorua's elderly community got their chance to tell politicians what they thought of the state of care for them and their colleagues at a meeting hosted by Grey Power Rotorua yesterday.

The meeting was held at the Bainbridge Centre with about 60 people attending.

Port Hills MP and Labour spokeswoman for senior citizens Ruth Dyson and Green Party list MP Barry Coates wanted to hear from the crowd if their concerns about elderly care had changed after they released a report What does the future hold for older New Zealanders? in 2010.

Ms Dyson wanted to know if life for senior citizens had got any better, or worse, in the intervening years.

She said reports of physical and mental abuse, theft, isolation and loneliness were shocking and care for the country's elderly needed to improve.

"We want ideas from you and these meetings are held to change policies so we can better support our older people," she said.

Mr Coates said three important recommendations - the setting up of a commission for older people, better pay and conditions for carers, and greater accountability for rest homes and retirement villages - had been largely ignored.

One person said her daughter was involved in the industry and said pay and support for caregivers was totally inadequate.

"They get no recognition and some of them are being paid below the minimum wage because they are desperate for the work," she said.

Another said caregiving could be better co-ordinated. Often more than one person had to attend to the same person when one person could do both jobs.

Other suggestions were to set up an ombudsman for elderly affairs, similar to the insurance industry, while others suggested roving inspections of rest homes could improve the quality of care.

Ms Dyson and Mr Coates said the information was valuable and would be included in an update to the report in the near future.