Back in February I posted on cuts to home help. My offices here in the Hutt Valley have been dealing with a steady stream of complaints from older residents who’ve had home help hours cut. Last week the Hutt News picked up the issue and on Friday I met with staff from the Hutt Valley DHB to talk about it. I generally have a very good working relationship with our local DHB and I think that overall they’re doing a great job. However on this particular issue I still have real concerns.
The Hutt News article revealed some salient statistics. Between October 2008 and December 2009 reviews of home help to 1950 Hutt Valley elders were carried out. 810 had hours cut, 820 had no change, and just 320 got more hours. In the 12 months to Jan 2009 the DHB spent $3.9 million on home help. Last year they cut $700,000 out of that spend. I simply don’t accept that cost-cutting isn’t part of the agenda here.
Cutting home help is so short-sighted. We should be trying to keep our older citizens in their own homes as long as possible. If a few hours help with the housework and/or grocery shopping helps them to do that then why penny-pinch? More people in rest homes will cost the health system a lot more than a few home help hours will.
“I posted on cuts to home help” – Charming, just charming. Those old people deserve heaps better than this.
Joyce backed down on cuts to Super discounts ontransport, surely the same logic there is applied here…
People who are fragile will try to clean their homes themselves, falls are likely. Hospitalisation, out patient care. Mentally, people suffer if they don’t have a cleanhome. Their pride and sense of worth. Depression, more health intervention required.
Transport is crucial to keep people from feeling isolated, afterall we want them in their own homes for as long as possible dont we? If people can catch the bus, or train or ferry, get out and about, fresh air, feel part of the world, get things attended to, get exercise, isnt that a saving?
If people are rorting the system deal with that don’t throw babies out with bathwater.
Anecdote: My father and his wife have neevr voted Labour. They mainly vote Act and love John Banks. They are v wealthy. They have taken advantage of this card (yes they can afford not to) and love it. We discussed it the other day and they see it as two-fold
1. A small payback for Muldoon’s theft from them
2. An entitlement which applies to all regardless of wealth, race or whatever
They were slating of Steven Joyce, scathing even, these true Blue bloods.
They’re not breaking any laws.
Spud, Im using it not as an example of bad behaviour but the widespread support for the initiative.
Perhaps the Govt feels it is on safer ground with the home help because people like my father and his wife pay for cleaners etc already…??
I knew that I was just backing you up.
Cut the DHBs. I wonder how many got pay rises or bonuses for cutting help to the vulnerable elderly? Targets are always synonymous with a disservice to some group or another.
The DHBs didn’t do this until National came in so I’m guessing that these changes are being made as a result of decisions from the top.
Spud where on earth have you been? DHBs have been doing this kind of thing for YEARS. It’s always been about money in their pocket first. DHBs are a fabulous idea…..on paper!
I was talking specifically about these home help cuts.
Not if the government have grabbed their assets to pay for it all.
Tracey An entitlement which applies to all regardless of wealth, race or whatever
It doesn’t apply to all. It doesn’t apply to me for example. I’d rather spend that money on buying shoes for my kids than have the government take it off me to give to your wealthy parents.
As well as cutting home help services , they are also restricting access to rest homes..This second part of the equation has been happening for some time but it has been kept out of the media in Canterbury till last weekend..when there was two articles in the Press. This two fold policy means that many frail elderly are now sitting in chairs in front of television sets holding remote controls for the greater part of each day and night. It is ”care by box..” I have witnessed it first hand..the woman in question asked me where the toilet was..she was alone 80 per cent of the time and did not know where the toilet was in her own home. Is this acceptable to anyone?
The Canterbury DHB has 60 managers and admin people earning over a hundred thousand dollars a year…Yes you read that correctly , 60 key pushers are paid this much before a doctor , a nurse , or a caregiver does anything. The surgeons are being pushed to their limit under pressure from management. We are just lucky that a lot of them are British..they just LOVE christchurch as a place to bring up their children so are staying on here even tho they could earn more and have far better working conditions in Aussie.
Carolyn Gullery is a piece of work. She is hugely obese yet glibly stated on local TV that the CDHB was ”getting out of housework and that they were working on programmes to get the elderly active.” The other top woman at CDHB is also overweight..What hypocrisy…All the elderly I know already do what they can. In other areas , exercise classes like tai chi are being canned.
People really need to stand up for the elderly.
In the uk , the elderly have three peole a day coming in 7/8 hours shifts so they are never alone..the lady I referred to earlier is too frail to lift the jug to make a cup of tea., yet she and thoudands like her are being condemmed to extreme loneliness.
All negative symptoms of a country with insufficient financial resources to look after its people in the ways that it would like to/should, which is then exacerbated by being run by a right/elite leaning Government more than willing to reallocate resources away from vulnerable members of the community. Both sides of that problem need to be fixed, and ASAP.
By the way, the Aussies have not given up on poaching our medical practitioners yet:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10639266
In the uk , the elderly have three peole a day coming in 7/8 hours shifts so they are never alone
I’d be very interested to know how many in the UK qualify for this sort of 24/7 support.
All negative symptoms of a country with insufficient financial resources to look after its people in the ways that it would like to/should
Absolutely. But then those who campaign most vociferously for the services also seem to be the ones who raise their voices most loudly at any apparent attempt to generate wealth. Labour’s reaction to the government’s intentions to survey (note – survey, not mine) conservation land to identify mineral deposits in potential commercial quantities is an example of this.