Removal of home support services slammed

MEDIA RELEASE

25 February 2010

For immediate release

Rural Women NZ slams removal of home support services in Otago and Southland

Rural Women New Zealand is angry at the planned removal of home support services for 3,000 people in Southland and Otago.

“There has been no research into what effect this is going to have on the wellbeing of these clients, or whether it is going to result in any medium or long term savings for the DHBs,” says RWNZ spokesperson, Marie Appleton. “This is a poorly thought out attempt at short term cost cutting which is likely to backfire badly.”

Rural Women New Zealand believes that without household management assistance elderly people will be attempting tasks around the home they cannot physically cope with. There will be more slips, trips and falls, and more people having to move to rest homes, which is contrary to the ‘Ageing in Place’ strategy.

The move by Southland and Otago DHBs follows similar cost cutting exercises in Wellington, Wanganui and Canterbury.

“Nobody has ever sat down and analysed the benefit or otherwise of cutting out household management services, and it is time they did. We believe it would show that such short term cost cutting leads to greater expense for the DHBs in the long run.”

In the meantime the move will alienate 3,000 elderly people and their families, as well as the general public. “It makes no sense,” says Mrs Appleton.

“Those providing domestic assistance are often the only outside contact for the elderly and may pick up on a problem in its early stages, rather than it being allowed to develop until it requires expensive hospital care.”

For the elderly in rural areas it is doubly difficult, as they will often have to move to rest homes in towns, away from their family support.

ENDS

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