Sandra Goudie MP
National Party Senior Citizens Spokeswoman

16 May 2006

Dyson missing in action on elder abuse

National Party Senior Citizens spokeswoman Sandra Goudie says Ruth Dyson must condemn in the strongest possible terms the latest example of elder abuse in a nurses' union magazine.

"The Minister can't put her head in the sand and pretend it didn't happen. She must tell New Zealanders whether she thinks it is appropriate that vulnerable elderly people should have these very personal images made public."

Ms Goudie is commenting on photographs of naked rest-home residents published in the latest issue of Kaitiaki, the journal of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.

It includes pictures of elderly women being showered, toileted and dressed.

"There was absolutely no need to publish these demeaning photos and the Minister should register her disgust.

"New Zealanders with commonsense understand the 'intimacy and value of caregivers work'. They don't need to be shown pictures of elderly people in private moments.

"Ruth Dyson must say whether she accepts the magazine's claim that consent was properly sought and granted," says Ms Goudie.

ENDS

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