Clark warns of `very serious trouble' over gagging
By MARCUS STICKLEY and NZPA - Nelson
Monday, 30 June 2008
The gagging of an elderly woman in an Auckland rest home is "totally unacceptable" and the facility is likely to face intense Health Ministry scrutiny, Prime Minister Helen Clark says.
Age Concern Nelson says it deals with cases of elder abuse "all the time" but cases of physical abuse are rare. Theft and psychological abuse are the most common cases.
The Health Ministry and police are investigating after a tradesman visiting the Belhaven Rest Home in Epsom on Friday secretly took a cell phone photo of the gagging and reported it. A staff member has been sacked.
Health Ministry staff who visited the rest home within a couple of hours of the abuse being reported found the woman still with her mouth gagged by medical tape. Belhaven specialises in brain injuries and psycho geriatric residents.
On Monday Miss Clark condemned the incident, which she hoped was not the tip of the iceberg.
"Most people who run rest homes pride themselves on the quality of care and the living environment they provide, but this is clearly totally unacceptable," she said on TVNZ's breakfast programme on Monday.
"I would think that rest home is in very serious trouble with the Ministry of Health."
Miss Clark said on NewstalkZB the rest home was likely to have breached several rules.
Age Concern Nelson chief executive Dave Nelson said on Monday that his organisation was "dealing with elder abuse cases all the time". However, "the vast majority do not involve physical abuse".
"What happened up north (at Belhaven) is pretty bad and I would say the whole residential care industry would be mortified that one of the facilities had this happen to them.
"By far the greatest majority of elder abuse happens outside residential care, often involving family members rather than health professionals."
SOURCE: Stuff dot Co NZ
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Elder Abuse is UNACCEPTABLE, in any way or form. It is good to see that this case has been given so much media attention. However, let us remember that the majority of the elder abuse happens in private homes. We need to remind ourselves that it is easier to identify the physical "gag" than the psychological ones. Those are the "invisible" victims. They lose out on all fronts.
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