The rate of carer no-shows at one of Southern District Health Board's home support providers reflects communication problems that have been fixed, the Australian-based provider says.
A performance report released under the Official Information Act shows Royal District Nursing Service clients reported 79 carer no-shows.
The figure was from a survey of more than 1000 RDNS clients, which drew a response rate of just under a third.
Neither of the two other home support providers had any reported no-shows, but they had sampled a smaller proportion of their clients.
The report covers the six months to the end of September.
RDNS has had a difficult year in the South, and at one stage the board suspended new referrals.
Earlier this year, the Health and Disability Commissioner ordered RDNS to apologise to a client who complained about having up to nine different carers in one week.
Many clients had difficulty getting hold of the Auckland call centre.
Planning and funding director Sandra Boardman said in a statement this week the Australian provider's compliance had improved.
''Southern DHB expects to see further reduction in no-shows in the next six-monthly report.
''SDHB monitors the proportion of service users surveyed routinely to ensure that this is a representative sample; however, it is a client's choice whether they respond to the survey.
''No-shows are not always reported by clients, so it is not possible to determine the absolute rate of no-shows, and surveys are used,'' Mrs Boardman said.
The Royal District Nursing Service office in Melbourne provided a statement in response to questions from the Otago Daily Times, which is attributed to Dunedin-based South Island service delivery manager Adele Knowles.
It said the survey was conducted in May amid technical problems in the Auckland call centre.
''The issues were complex and impacted on communications which, in turn, resulted in client timetabling problems. These included some cancellations, especially in the months preceding the survey.
''We are delighted to say that there have been significant improvements following the introduction of new processes, training and technology in the call centre.''
Complaints
Royal District Nursing Service 24
Access Home Health 10
Healthcare of New Zealand 4
Reported carer no shows:
Royal District Nursing Service 79
Access Home Health 0
Healthcare of New Zealand 0
Source: Six-monthly report of home support providers to Southern District Health Board
