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Strict lockdown provisions at Maygrove Lifecare rest home in Ōrewa, since last August, have prevented residents from visiting family and friends.
Zoom or phone contact and short visits into the rest home are all that have been permitted.
Waitemata DHB confirms that those restrictions are more rigid than most other facilities. Residents’ families have been complaining to the rest home’s owners – NZ Aged Care Services – as well as management, Age Concern and the DHB for months, but it was their threat of protest action, and contacting Hibiscus Matters, that brought results.
Elaine Little and her husband Roland had lived at the rest home for around three years. Late last year Roland turned 100 but the restrictions meant his family were unable to celebrate this milestone with him. Roland died a month later.
His great great grandson, Jacques Robinson, says although Elaine was allowed out for her husband’s funeral, she faced a strict 14-day isolation in her room on her return. “We considered that punitive and wouldn’t put her through it, so we postponed the funeral,” Jacques says.
Trevor Wilson’s father Ray, aged 86, and mother, Anne, 84, have lived in Maygrove Lifecare for around four years. Trevor says the family became increasingly upset and angry as the restrictions on home visits, introduced last August in the Level 4 lockdown, continued. His parents’ mental health was also suffering, he says.
He says there were times, from September to March, when family could visit, one at a time for 30 minutes, but that was all.
Current Ministry of Health settings are clear that family visits should occur at rest homes, with precautions such as mask wearing, as well as outings and/or short stays with family.
On May 5, Waitemata DHB contacted the rest home’s owner to reinforce this, stating that the limitations were excessive. “There continues to be a level of disregard as to the impact of these restrictions on the physical and psychological wellbeing of residents, and what is most important to residents in the latter period of their lives,” the letter says.
NZ Aged Care Services managing director Peter Leathem told residents and families in a letter that the restrictions were due to outbreaks of Covid-19 within its facilities.
At Maygrove Lifecare, there had been three residents with Covid-19, the letter says. However, this happened over a few weeks which meant that the outbreak took longer than expected to resolve. Staff had to manage the health risks accordingly.
The company’s clinical and operations general manager, Pam Joll, told the paper that its priority has been to keep residents and staff safe and cared for, considering the threat that Covid-19 represents to older people.
“We consider we have applied a conservative and responsible approach,” she says. “Restrictions were reconsidered once we no longer had active positive cases on site. Protocols are reviewed regularly, and changes made according to the risk at the time.”
“They are not prisoners – this is not a secure unit,” Trevor says. “I appreciate that particularly early on in the Delta outbreak, there was significant risk and a need for restrictions in line with Ministry of Health guidelines. However, nine months later our loved ones have missed out on Christmas, Easter and birthdays. When my brother came from Ireland for three weeks, he wasn’t allowed in to see them. My father said he didn’t know how much longer he could take the separation and that was the last straw for me.”
Trevor got in touch with other families by setting up a Facebook page and together they demanded that restrictions be relaxed to match Ministry of Health settings, or they would protest outside the rest home on Mother’s Day, May 8.
Following the threat of protest action, the organisation allowed residents to leave the facility on a case-by-case basis, with a three-day isolation on their return.
This meant that Trevor and Jacques’ families were among those able to take their relatives home for Mother’s Day celebrations on May 8.
Both families say that they have no complaints about the care their relatives receive at the rest home – the extent of the lockdown, brought about by NZ Aged Care Services’ policies, was the issue.
Last week, Waitemata DHB told the paper that the limitations at Maygrove Lifecare do not align with Ministry of Health guidance and it has asked the facility to provide the DHB with a revised policy.
“We hope this is the end of it,” Trevor says. “We are waiting to see how it goes from now on.”
Editor’s note: It is important to note that, despite the name, Maygrove Lifecare has no connection with Maygrove Retirement Village.
