Talbot
Park staff stressed out by short-term occupancy
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Admissions at Talbot Park Aged
Care Facility were halted recently to allow staff some relief as short-term
residents were creating a stressful environment.
A higher number of short-term
admissions at Talbot Park saw admissions halted for a few weeks to give staff a
break, the South Canterbury District Health Board (SCDHB) was told at its
monthly meeting.
There had been no long-term
placements since April, SCDHB general manager planning and accountability
Margaret Hill told the meeting on Friday, resulting in higher demands on
the 68 fulltime equivalent staff members.
Chairman Murray
Cleverley praised management teams for "holding it together" during a busy period.
Hill told the meeting
admissions had been halted for a few weeks to give staff a break due to
the high rate of short-term occupancy. Short-term placements included
palliative care, residents waiting for beds in other facilities, and disability
respite care.
"The increase in
short-term placements is a combination of limited availability of hospital
level residential care beds in South Canterbury and the community awareness of
the planned closure of Talbot Park," she wrote in her report.
The decision to close the
only South Canterbury aged care facility to offer the highest level of dementia
care (D6), was confirmed by the SCDHB in February. It did
not see an aged care facility as its core business.
The SCDHB hoped
another provider would take over but that had not happened, though some
interest had been shown. It has reassured staff, residents and families a
number of times it would continue to provide D6 dementia care at Talbot
Park until alternative arrangements could be made.
Occupancy in the last
month was 100 per cent for three of the four wings, including D6. The
fourth wing had 87 per cent occupancy. At the time Hill's report was written,
occupancy was at 63 beds out of 67. To make the facility sustainable
occupancy needed to sit at about 95 per cent, Cleverley said.
"Staff have been under a
lot of stress. Management teams have held it together. Well done," he
said.
The spike in short-term
respite care was not necessarily a trend, Hill said.
SCDHB chief executive
Nigel Trainor said the workload had changed at the aged care residential
facility.
"At this stage we are
monitoring the workload and looking at what else is required if this develops
as a trend going forward. We have just begun advertising for a part-time
clerical position to help support the increase in administration associated
with short-term patients."
He said if a bed was not
available in Timaru then extra home support was provided until a bed was
available.
"It is worth remembering
that every patient is unique and so there will be no one-size-fits-all
answer."
SOURCE: Timaru Herald, Esther
Ashby-Coventry
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