Stuff
Princess Alexandra retirement village in Napier experienced a spike in Covid cases last week.
A Napier retirement village has used members of a local Rotary club as volunteers in a complex where Covid is rife, prompting concerns from a resident’s family and Grey Power.
Ahuriri Sunrise Rotary Club members received an email from their president on Friday, saying the club had fielded “a reasonably urgent request” from Ryman Healthcare’s Princess Alexandra Retirement Village for volunteer help.
The retirement village, which has 139 beds and provides dementia care, rest home care, geriatric and medical care, has been badly hit with Covid, said the email, which was also sent to the retirement village manager.
Many residents and many staff members have Covid and “the team need help to care for their residents during the coming weeks to help them through this”, the email said.
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It asked for volunteers to give an hour or two volunteering to help deliver meals, feed residents, make beds, “get residents organised with clothes, books, phones etc, sitting and chatting with residents and so on”.
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Ryman Healthcare chief executive Richard Umbers. (File photo)
No toileting, showering or dressing would be required unless the volunteer was a qualified carer, the email said.
Anyone interested in volunteering should be fully vaccinated and have recently had Covid.
Volunteers would be provided with personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves, sanitiser and gowns if required. They may also be required to do a Rapid Antigen Test.
A family member of one of the residents, who asked not to be named, said they were stunned such a request had been made.
“Here you have a company that made a $255 million profit in the latest financial year and it’s asking vulnerable elderly people to volunteer at a complex where Covid is rife.”
In May, Ryman Healthcare reported a full year audited underlying profit of $255m. Group chief executive Richard Umbers said at the time he was “optimistic Covid is now in the rearview mirror and living with Covid is the new normal”.
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When the crisis began “many people saw the retirement sector as somewhere to go to get Covid”, Umbers said, but Ryman’s efforts to keep the virus out of its facilities meant enquiries were now some of the highest they had seen.
Grey Power Federation national vice-president Pete Matcham said the situation was concerning as members of service clubs and older people in general had a “high level of concern for others and a willingness to help those worse off than themselves”.
“They are also the group most at risk of serious complications from Covid, even when already vaccinated,” he said.
Ryman and every other business in New Zealand had two years to plan for extended nursing and support staff in their homes, Matcham said, so to rely on voluntary support from the community rather than make adequate provision that would involve increased costs was “unacceptable”.
Ryman head of communications David King said the call for volunteers was made by a village staff member, who was also a member of Rotary, after the facility had experienced a spike in the number of Covid cases and 4 0 staff off, “which is a significant number”.
“We flew in extra help from our Ryman team and called on the [Hawke’s Bay] DHB for assistance on care shifts as well and we were overwhelmed with help. It was amazing,” he said.
Three Rotary members volunteered to help “with dishes and cups of tea” and that was much appreciated, he said.
“The village is through the worst, from 90 cases at its peak we are down to 15, and they are recovering well out of isolation. We are almost back to normal,” King said.
New Zealand Aged Care Association chief executive Simon Wallace said it was not unusual to have volunteers in aged residential care facilities.
