KEY POINTS:
Residents of disgraced rest home Belhaven, where an elderly woman's mouth was taped shut, will have to move out by today.
The Auckland District Health Board announced yesterday that it had stripped the Epsom facility of its contract because of huge failings in patient care.
Age Concern has
criticised the "unseemly haste" in removing the residents at only 24 hours' notice.
The decision was based on a draft Ministry of Health report and on recommendations of a temporary manager appointed by the DHB last week after a picture of the gagged woman - taken by a tradesman - was published in a Sunday newspaper.
DHB chief planning and funding officer Denis Jury said the manager made daily reports to the health board on the running of the rest home.
Belhaven lacked quality management systems, was unable to ensure clinical and social support for residents and had weak ongoing cleaning and food systems in place.
"In terms of having systems in process to ensure quality and safety and an appropriate standard of care for the residents, the gap between where they are now and where they need to be is big," Dr Jury said.
"We don't think that can be bridged by the current owners in an appropriate time frame.
"There wasn't enough system in place to give us any confidence that if we turned our backs it would, one, continue in a manner that was adequate and, secondly, that they had the framework that would allow them to respond in an appropriate way if there were any particular incidents."
A geriatrician was also sent to the rest home to assess each resident. One man had to be admitted to hospital overnight and did not return to Belhaven as he required a level of care it was unable to provide.
Findings from a separate ministry investigation are due to be released in a few days. A report will decide if Belhaven is allowed to continue operating.
Of the 10 residents, eight are funded by the board, one is funded by the ministry and the other is a private-paying resident.
Dr Jury said it was up to the families about where the residents moved to but the DHB had recommended that they stayed together.
"These people have been together for a long time now and there's obviously relationships and support collectively among that group.
"We have talked to other facilities that are able to accommodate the eight people that we currently fund."
But Age Concern chief executive Ann Martin said a "managed transition out of Belhaven" would have been better for everyone.
"The safety of vulnerable older people is a paramount concern. Age Concern works to combat elder abuse wherever it occurs and we welcome moves, however belated, to keep the Belhaven residents safe.
"However, it might be far better for the vulnerable senior residents to be kept safe in the place they regard as their home, and their carers given additional assistance and oversight, rather than moved with such unseemly haste."
Health Minister David Cunliffe said the mouth-taping incident was not the sole basis of the DHB's decision - an unannounced ministry inspection last week threw up further problems at Belhaven.
"It's a rare step and it's a decisive step. And it's one that I think is appropriate."
Belhaven had already been under close surveillance before the gagging was made public, but the incident had brought forward the inspection.
The findings at Belhaven did not necessarily point to nationwide failings in the age-care sector, but widespread inspections would follow to ensure care was adequate, he said.
National Party health spokesman Tony Ryall said New Zealanders needed to be assured that the expensive auditing processes of the health boards and the ministry were delivering the quality services expected.
