Many elderly unable to enter Sunnyside

Press, 18 March 1988, Page 7

Many elderly unable to enter Sunnyside

Many elderly patients awaiting urgent psychiatric assessment are unable to get into Sunnyside Hospitals *

The medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Les Ding, said yesterday that he lack of rest home subsidies for elderly psychiatric patients was causing congestion among the acute assessment and long-stay beds. Sylvan Clinic, the hospital's long-stay unit, was filled with elderly patients needing, places in rest homes, he said. These patients could not be moved because they were not eligible for subsidies to pay for the rest homes.

Cluny Villa, used for acute assessment and rehabilitation, was blocked with patients waiting for places in Sylvan Clinic, said Dr Ding. . "If I could get one person out of the Sylvan Clinic long-stay unit into a geriatric rest home I

would be able to take one person from Cluny' Villa. This then frees a bed for acute assessment?’ Patients were usually in Cluny Villa for acute assessment for about two months, said Dr Ding. "For every patient in Sylvan Clinic who cannot get out and is waiting for a .vear, there are four or five in the community who are being denied access to the hospital.” This meant about 150 patients a year needing acute assessment could not get into the hospital.

“This situation is exactly analogous to the medical wards — there is always a hue and cry when someone has a heart attack and cannot get into the medical wards but we also have people who need acute assessment."

Since 1965, .elderly psychiatric patients in Auckland had (received rest home subsidies, said Dr Ding. . : | ■ -’Over the last few years a lot of people have tried to get an explanation why this cannot be extended for patients in the rest of New Ze land.”

One reason given was that‘-many, of the Auckland rest homes were of a low standard and to extend the availability of the subsidies could worsen the problem of inadequate care for elderly psychiatric patients, said Dr Ding. However, this reason did not apply in Christchurch, he said. “With the bridging money we got last year (to move patients into’ the community) we set up a

team whose special function is to liaise with rest homes and assess whether they are willing and able to provide care for former psychiatric patients. “That must give some assurance that these people would get adequate care. Short of the Hospital Board’s owning these rest homes, what more assurance can one give?” The lack of subsidies for elderly psychiatric patients meant that they were denied the right to live outside the hospital, said Dr Ding. The Hospital Boards’ Association has asked all hospital boards to comment on the rest home subsidies so that it can make submissions to the Government.