Publication of full rest home audits to continue

Associate Health Minister Jo Goodhew has announced that publication of full rest home audit reports will continue.

“Late last year I asked the Ministry of Health to trial publishing full audit reports of rest homes online,” says Mrs Goodhew.

“This followed feedback from the public and stakeholder groups that they wanted more information about how a rest home was performing.

“During the trial period over 200 people a week visited the full audit reports site, with around 80 of those downloading a copy of a full audit report.

“In addition, the feedback received has been clear, that the information is useful and the public would like it to continue.

“As a result, I have asked the Ministry of Health to continue publication of the full audit reports.”

There are now over 370 full audit reports available on the Ministry websitewww.health.govt.nz/fullaudits. The full audit reports average around 100 pages, with each report anonymised prior to publication so that the details of the individual staff and residents are protected.

“Through the trial, it has also been identified that the current full audit reports contain a large amount of administrative detail and there is a lot of ‘white space’ when the document is downloaded and printed,” Mrs Goodhew said.

“I have therefore asked the Ministry to look at developing an improved, reformatted version of the full audit report that will make them more streamlined and reader-friendly, while still retaining the full content.

“I have also asked the Ministry to seek input from stakeholder groups, including Age Concern, Grey Power, the New Zealand Aged Care Association and Consumer NZ, as part of this process.”

It is anticipated that a new version of the full audit report will be available by the end of the year.

“It is important families have quick and easy access to information when they are making a decision about a rest home for themselves or a relative.

“I am proud of this Government’s record in strengthen the assessing and reporting of rest homes, and ensuring that the system is robust and transparent so older New Zealanders and their families can feel secure and confident about the choices they need to make.”

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