Aged Care Association doesn’t support quality aged care

29 September 2011

Aged Care Association doesn’t support quality care for older New Zealanders

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) says that Martin Taylor and the New Zealand Aged Care Association (NZACA) are misleading New Zealanders when they say more beds are all that’s needed to fix the crisis in rest homes and aged care hospitals.

NZNO Industrial Adviser, Rob Haultain is astonished by the comments, “The NZACA are clearly out of touch with the support needed to care for our elderly. More beds mean nothing if there aren’t well-supported and skilled staff to care for the person in the bed.”

“The aged care sector is in crisis and we know that quality care for older New Zealanders will only become a reality if there are enough people providing care. Compulsory staffing levels are the absolute bottom line if we want safe, quality care for our elders. “

“The crisis in aged residential care is a key election issue. The thousands of signed charters we presented to politicians yesterday are testament to that,” Haultain says.

“I challenge Martin Taylor to a public debate about the issues facing the residential age care sector. We are confident that Mr Taylor and his organisation could learn much from the thousands of union members who care for New Zealand’s elderly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

ENDS

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