Geriatric bed guidelines ‘not tramlines’

Press, 28 April 1980, Page 6

Geriatric bed guidelines ‘not tramlines’

Wellington reporter

No final figures have been set for the number of psychiatric, psychopaedic, or long-stay geriatric beds that the North Canterbury Hospital Board should provide, according to the Acting Minister of Health (Mr Thomson).

The Hospital Board had been asked to submit a plan outlining how it thought it could reduce bed numbers to nearer the recommended bed guidelines. As the Minister of Health (Mr Gain) had said, the Department of Health’s guidelines were just that — they wer6 not “tramlines incapable of variation” to meet local conditions or special circumstances. Professor D. W. Beaven had correctly noted that provision should be made where a board’s “catchment area” extended beyond its own boundaries, tie said. Clearly this was significant. People needed to have no fear that the Government would close beds that were needed now.

Most informed opinion was that psychiatric or psychopaedic patients did bettei when they were cared for ar home or in an environment which resembled the home as nearly as possible.

Mr Thomson said the Government had contributed to the development of community services in several ways — by providing funds for

enlarged extra-mural services, the building of small psyctiiatric units, and by subsidies to organisations, such as the Society for the Intellectually Handicapped. The pace at which community services developed would partly be determined by how much some resources could be transferred from the large base psychiatric hospitals which should no longer have to meet the needs of people, other than those who were

heavily dependent. “There is absolutely no suggestion that the idea for the North Canterbury Hospital Board to reduce the number of geriatric beds by 25 per cent should be achieved in the short term,” Mr Thomson said.

The Government was considering a report on the geriatric hospital special assistance scheme. This recommends that the scheme should continue to include the same number of beds as

were already provided under the scheme. If this recommendation was accepted no geriatric beds would have to be closed.

It made little sense to seek fewer long-stay beds for elderly people in the board’s area when pressure for existing beds was so great said a member of the Combined Churches’ Social Services Trust Board in Ctiristchurch. Mr M. R. McGregor said he agreed with Professor Beaven, who urged the board to support urgent action .to improve conditions for elderly people in Christchurch.

There are 968 long-stay beds for elderly people, in the board’s area. Of these, 257 are under the board’s control and the private sector has 711. “With about 72 per cent of longrstay beds being provided by private interests, of

which churches form a large part, we are vitally? interested in this issue and deeply involved in plans for changes being mooted,” Mr McGregor said. Church homes for elderly

people were under great pressure from the board to provide more beds, and from the relatives of elderly people.

“It does not make much sense when we in the field know that in daily practical terms there seems very little chance of reducing the numbers of beds due to these pressures.” Circumstances had farced priority to be given to the physical needs of elderly people, when more attention should be given to personal and social factors. If this was done, home support services might be given greater significance in the over-all planning for elderly people's needs, Mr McGregor said. “We find now we have a lot of disjointed home support services and the question of staff not being adequately deployed. No strong core of professional people exists here to set up a team to cover all facets of care for the aged.” In the professional area the Hospital Board could provide more leadership, finance, and planning, he said.

“We in the voluntary area look to the board for this type of assistance.”