MoH requirements for DHB's with active respite care centers.

Kate O'Connell made this Official Information request to Ministry of Health

Response to this request is long overdue. By law Ministry of Health should have responded by now (details and exceptions). The requester can complain to the Ombudsman.

From: Kate O'Connell

Dear Ministry of Health,

My name is Kate Aschoff and I am a young person based in Wellington. I am currently running an inquiry into diffrent aspects of the Mental Health System in Aotearoa, with one of them being Respite Care.

On the 13th of December 2017 a RNZ journalist released an article about DHB's recording incidents of self harm or otherwise (suicide) in Respite Care facilities in their district. The article states "Three DHBs do not officially require respite workers to have any qualifications at all, and only Wairarapa insists every centre has a nurse rostered on during the day. Eight DHBs have clinical staff overseeing respite care, but are not required to actually be at the facilities."

I wanted to inquire that as of the 4/05/2018 if the below statements align with any and all MoH requirements for DHB's with active respite care centers.

Some DHB's in NZ do not require:
A) Care teams to record or report incidents of harm in Respite Care
B) Have Respite care workers with set qualifications
C) Have clinical staff onsite at facilities

As of the 4/05/2018 these decisions are still up to individual DHB's and there are no processes recommended or enforced by the MoH in handling them.

I would like to also inquire why there is not a more consistent care plan for the running's of Respite care in NZ and why the MoH believes that DHB's are appropriate to make these decisions.

I reached out to David Clark on this matter but his team referred me back to the Ministry itself.

If there have been changes to these requirements could I please be advised on them or sent to somewhere I can read more about them?

Thank you for your time and information provided.

Yours faithfully,

Kate O'Connell

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Ministry of Health


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Dear Ms O'Connell

Thank you for your request for official information, received by the
Ministry of Health on 4 May 2018. The Ministry's reference number for your
request is: H201803472

You requested:

I wanted to inquire that as of the 4/05/2018 if the below statements align
with any and all MoH requirements for DHB's with active respite care
centers.
Some DHB's in NZ do not require:
A) Care teams to record or report incidents of harm in Respite Care
B) Have Respite care workers with set qualifications
C) Have clinical staff onsite at facilities
As of the 4/05/2018 these decisions are still up to individual DHB's and
there are no processes recommended or enforced by the MoH in handling
them.
I would like to also inquire why there is not a more consistent care plan
for the running's of Respite care in NZ and why the MoH believes that
DHB's are appropriate to make these decisions.
If there have been changes to these requirements could I please be advised
on them or sent to somewhere I can read more about them?

Your request has been logged and you can expect a reply no later than 5
June 2018 as required under the Official Information Act 1982.

Please note that a working day is defined in the Act as ‘any day of the
week other than a Saturday, Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day,
Labour Day, the Sovereigns birthday, Waitangi Day and a day in the period
commencing 25 December in any year and ending 15 January in the following
year.

If a large amount of information has been requested or if the Ministry
needs to consult in order to make a decision, we may need to extend this
date (this is provided for in section 15A of the Act).  We will advise you
if such an extension is necessary.

Yours sincerely,

Claire Renwick
Advisor

[Ministry of Health request email]
Ministerial Services  l  Government Services  l  Office of the Director
General

[1]http://www.health.govt.nz

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