Source: Health and Disability Commissioner
Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Rose Wall has found The Selwyn Foundation in breach of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights (the Code), for failing to provide health services with reasonable care and skill.
Health services are defined in section 2 of the Health and Disability Commissioner Act as services to promote and protect health; prevent disease or ill health; and treatment, nursing, rehabilitative, diagnostic, and counselling services.
In the particular circumstances of this case, Ms Wall determined that The Selwyn Foundation was providing health services to a resident living independently in an apartment within its’ retirement village, and therefore the Code applied.
A woman aged in her eighties was living independently in an apartment within The Selwyn Foundation’s retirement village. The occupation licence specified the services the retirement village would provide to the woman. The woman had a fall, and she was visited by a Resident Services representative. The representative said the woman could not remember how the fall occurred and did not agree to see a nurse. The representative visited the woman again later that day and found her slumped down in her chair and confused. She was unable to move and was complaining of pain in her back so the representative rang for an ambulance and she was transported to hospital.
The retirement village’s care of the woman on this occasion was found to be inadequate with the processes and procedures relating to independent living residents insufficiently clear to staff, and its training and monitoring of practice insufficient.
Ms Wall concluded that, “there was a lack of policy to guide the representative when he visited the woman and discovered she had fallen and did not recall the events that had occurred, and that primarily Selwyn’s systems were at fault”.
“This case is important, and presents a valuable opportunity for the wider retirement village sector to learn from the events that transpired. The provision of health and disability services to residents who live independently within a retirement village setting is not unique to The Selwyn Foundation.
“It is reasonable to assume that such living arrangements will only increase and become more complex in the future as the population of older people grows, and more demand is placed upon aged residential care services.
“An increasing number of older people with comorbidities will continue to live independently within retirement villages for longer periods, with prerequisite support services in place.
“For the system to operate effectively and for these residents to remain safe and continue to live well, it will require respective roles and the scope of responsibility of all the parties involved in provision of health services, to be defined clearly and followed consistently,” says Ms Wall.
Ms Wall recommended The Selwyn Foundation and the representative apologise in writing to the woman’s family. She also made multiple recommendations to The Selwyn Foundation to review, update and develop policies for provision of health services to independent living residents and arrange training for relevant staff, and ensure a copy of the Code is provided to all existing residents and included with entry information for new residents.
Since these events The Selwyn Foundation has made multiple changes to its procedures and processes and undertaken further training for its independent living Residential Services staff. It has also reviewed and updated its standard occupation licence and disclosure statement for the retirement village, and updated its marketing material for independent living residents so the services they offer are described clearly.
The full report of this case will be available on HDC’s website. Names have been removed from the report to protect privacy of the individuals involved in this case.
The Commissioner will usually name providers and public hospitals found in breach of the Code, unless it would not be in the public interest, or would unfairly compromise the privacy interests of an individual provider or a consumer.
More information for the media and HDC’s naming policy can be found on our website here.
