Rest homes say they're turning away elderly patients because they don't have enough nurses to care for them.
They say that's because their nurses are constantly lured away to better pay at public hospitals.
At one Taumarunui rest home they are turning away some elderly people with medical needs.
General manager of Avonlea Rest Home, Anna Looby, says they’ve turned away three admissions.
It's a similar story at an Auckland rest home.
“Potential residents who are complex, have higher needs, would be unstable and need the care, they're turned away,” says Angela Lowe of Anne Maree Rest Home in Auckland’s Avondale.
The Rest Home Association’s Simon Wallace says a number of homes have closed their doors to new applications.
“We now know of 20 sites who have closed some of their beds to new admissions,” Wallace says.
About 40,000 New Zealanders live in rest homes where 5000 registered nurses should look after them – except there are 900 vacancies.
"So we're 20 per cent short of nurses who are absolutely critical to the delivery of our care services to older New Zealanders," Wallace says.
Looby says nurses see “better money and they go to the bigger centres”.
Rest home nurses earn $10,000 a year less than their hospital counterparts so rest homes can't compete.
“We work on a fine margin anyway with the funding that we get,” Looby says.
Rest homes fear they'll be even worse off if hospital nurses pay goes up in their current wage claim.
Health Minister Andrew Little told 1News he is committed to pay parity but when is unclear.
SHARE ME