A Whakatāne family has raised concerns about the care their 87-year-old father has received at Bupa Mary Shapley Care Home, saying they have spent the past 18 months repeatedly raising issues with management.

The family, who does not wish to be named to protect their father’s privacy, said they wanted their father to receive the dignity, respect and care he deserved, but felt his care had deteriorated during his three years at the rest home.

Bupa NZ has acknowledged their concerns and said it had addressed the issues raised promptly, including strengthening processes.

“We pride ourselves on delivering quality care and continue to work closely with the family to ensure our team meets their expectations of care at Mary Shapley,” Bupa said in a statement.

The family’s concerns follow a recent Health and Disability Commissioner report that found the rest home had breached standards of care related to another Mary Shapley rest home resident.

The family said changes introduced following the report had made little difference to their father’s care. Their father has suffered two serious falls, fracturing his hips and femur and requiring surgery.

“He has metal rods in both legs,” a daughter said.

He has remained in the facility’s hospital wing since the injuries.

More recently, he spent about five weeks in and out of hospital after they pushed for urine and blood tests because of concerns about his health.

“He was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection.”

Their father remained unwell and in August, and they received a call saying he was unconscious and had been taken to hospital by ambulance.

A rash on his leg, which a daughter had raised concerns about at the rest home, was diagnosed as scabies.

“Because of the urinary tract infection and scabies, he was very sick.”

Scabies had reportedly been present at the rest home for a few months and they were concerned infection-control measures had not been adequately followed.

After returning to the rest home, their father developed delirium and was taken back to hospital. They said dementia had been incorrectly recorded on his file by the rest home despite him not having been diagnosed with the condition at the time – and he was sent back to the rest home.

“He had delirium and had to go back to hospital because of the wrong information on his file.”

The daughter said she had repeatedly asked who had entered the dementia diagnosis.

“I still haven’t got an answer.”

Her father later contracted a second bout of scabies – and was subsequently hospitalised with pneumonia.

“Dad’s body had been through so much – the breaks, the infections, the scabies, the pneumonia.”

The family also raised concerns about wound care, saying lesions and ulcers treated in hospital became problematic again after he returned to the rest home.

“He goes to hospital, they get them nicely cleaned up, he comes back, they’re a mess again.”

One of his daughters was in tears after finding him wet and half exposed in a chair in the middle of his room, without access to a call bell.

The family also raised concerns about hygiene and food.

They had cleaned his room after his first bout of scabies and found a urine bottle that had been left there for several days.

Their father has swallowing difficulties and was supposed to avoid foods such as sweetcorn and rice because of the risk of choking, but they said these had been served to him. A daughter described the food as often cold and poor quality.

“Every family meeting the food comes up.”

Staff shortages and management turnover were concerns, she said. While she praised many care staff as caring and compassionate, she believed they were exhausted and under pressure.

“They do the job with love and care,” she said.

She said frequent changes in managers had made it difficult to maintain consistency and accountability.

“The ball is being dropped all the time.”

She said they had not lodged a formal HDC complaint but were receiving advice from an HDC advocate.

Bupa NZ responds to the complaint

We acknowledge the concerns raised and take these matters seriously.

We pride ourselves on delivering quality care and continue to work closely with the family to ensure our team meets their expectations of care at Mary Shapley.

We have reviewed the issues raised and identified areas where care and processes did not always meet expectations. We addressed these promptly, including strengthening processes and taking corrective action where required.

Over the past two months, Mary Shapley has benefited from senior experienced leadership, including long-term relieving general manager and clinical manager appointments. This has helped strengthen consistency and lift standards across the care home and these improvements have also been acknowledged by residents and families.

Improvements in processes and consistency in care were recognised by an independent external audit conducted last month, which identified no findings.

Like many regional communities, Whakatāne can be a challenging location in which to recruit for senior leadership and clinical positions. Our focus is on securing long-term leaders who are committed to the community and providing stability for residents, families and staff.

Mary Shapley is currently fully staffed with a team of nearly 90 people with a healthy list of prospective employees.

We have been transparent and communicated with residents and families about the improvements and actions under way at Mary Shapley. Members of our leadership team have visited the site and met with families to hear their concerns and discuss progress. The general manager also provides regular fortnightly updates.

The recent management of scabies and influenza outbreaks at Mary Shapley demonstrated the importance of strong infection prevention and control practices and showed that, when these measures are consistently applied, they are effective in helping protect residents.