133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
Ms Marie McMahon
[FYI request #13607 email]
Ref. DR201527
Tēnā koe Ms McMahon
Thank you for your correspondence of 28 August 2020 to the Minister of Justice, Hon Andrew
Little, about staffing in rest homes. Your correspondence was referred to the Minister of Health,
Hon Chris Hipkins, as the matters you raise fall within his responsibilities. The Minister has
asked that I respond to you directly. I appreciate you taking the time to write.
I note your concerns about low staffing levels at rest homes and hospital level care. I appreciate
your concern for the residents and staff at these facilities and note that you feel very strongly
about this issue.
Aged residential care (ARC) providers need to be certified by the Director-General of Health
under the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001. HealthCERT is the delegated team
within the Ministry of Health that regulates these providers. Certified providers are routinely
audited against the Health and Disability Services Standards 8134:2008 to ensure they
consistently provide quality health care services.
The Standards require providers to:
• uphold consumer rights
• provide services that are safe and appropriate
• ensure that the environment where services are provided is safe and promotes minimisation
of risk of harm
• adhere to infection prevention and control principles
• apply restraint and minimisation procedures safely.
To ensure that services are provided safely and appropriately, the providers are required to
have:
• a suitably qualified and/or experienced person to manage the services provided
• a well-documented quality and risk management system
• an appropriate mix of skil ed and knowledgeable staff
• wel documented care delivery processes.
You may be interested to know ARC providers enter into a contractual agreement with their
local district health board (DHB) to provide quality health care services. The Age Related
Residential Care (ARRC) Services Agreement details the minimum requirement of care staff
numbers at ARC facilities. You can find the national agreements here:
tas.health.nz/dhb-
programmes-and-contracts/health-of-older-people-programme/aged-residential-care/#National.
Staffing is stipulated in the Service Specifications of the ARRC contract.
If you have concerns with a certain ARC provider, we encourage you to approach this provider
in the first instance, as this is the appropriate first step to take.
If you are not satisfied with the provider’s response to your concerns, you can contact the local
DHB as it holds the contract with the provider. You can also contact HealthCERT to make a
formal complaint or discuss the complaints investigation process. You can contact the
HealthCERT team on freephone 0800 113 813 or by email ([email address]).
Thank you again for taking the time to write. I hope this information is useful, and I wish you
well.
Nāku noa, nā
Clare Perry
Acting Deputy Director-General
Health System Improvement and Innovation
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