Healthcare Nz

Had to push 1-star rating to get this to post, but on actual fact I wanted to give it a ZERO-star rating, that’s how bad it is. Healthcare NZ may as well be non-existent, particularly more so now since losing our local office and everything is coordinated via Auckland. Communication levels are virtually non-existent to being extremely poor now. Ability to find or receive assistance extremely hard to obtain let alone deal with and arrange things. Abilities/levels of work able to provide are minimal as the workers aren’t allowed to do any heavy lifting, not allowed to hang washing, not allowed to wash windows etc, and once (some years ago now) my mother (who has a collapsing back & is now almost in a wheelchair 24/7) was told by the worker of the time she was unable to clean bath or toilet as it was bad for her back so that went out the window too and so my mother struggled with it herself which I’m sure could have also likely assisted in the further decline of her welfare as well. Mother & father were reviewed 8 weeks ago for going under the NASC team this year & still no letters or the like as had been advised we would receive to detail services and contact numbers for assistance as and when required. Parents and I have found this service to be nothing of it’s former self before John Key’s govt ripped away all the funding and has been continually deteriorating as the years have rolled by. Another reason behind why I came home nearly 2 years ago to be on tap 24/7 for the folks as last year dad was hospitalised a few times & needed 24/7 care and mother’s health & mobility has declined quite a bit in last 12 months also - but guess what, until neither of them are capable of dressing or showering themselves (which they still do at a pinch to keep their independence) no one will recognise me as their preferred caregiver even though I do just about everything else around the place except the washing & dusting which mother still likes to potter at as she can do these couple of jobs from a sitting position. Also, the reviewers never ask mother to show them how immobile or otherwise she actually is, they just talk with her and ask her questions where she exaggerates the answers as she doesn’t like to feel useless, so she makes out she’s still capable of certain things even if she’s not. As for having confidence in the system if I were to go away for more than a night that someone would be there to cook the nightly meal and check on the folks daily, I have absolutely no confidence and will likely still rely on the neighbours & local friends to do checking etc as I had to 4 weeks ago with not having any way of knowing what, when, how or if the NASC team were available etc! Healthcare NZ, you really need to up your game and actually care for the elderly &/or disabled much better and more proficiently than you do, like you used to years ago before John Key’s govt wrecked it all.

We have given up on having home help as almost every week the coordinator would ring and say no one was available to do the 1 hour of cleaning we were offered a few years ago. It got very stressful having to hear this poor woman apologise over and over again that there was no one to do the job.So I don't see any improvement in the set up of Health NZ and I certainly don't like the Maori name being first. We HAVE MANY NATIONALITIES and refugees, English is the language that we ALL speak and having the Maori language complicating life is something none of us need.