A Report into Aged Care. What does the future hold for older New Zealanders? -- a Labour, Green Party and Grey Power joint-initiative -- was based on more than 450 submissions from 20 nationwide meetings attended by over 1200 people, and conversations with various experts, nurses and caregivers around the country.
It said rest home residents were routinely given anti-psychotic medication to sedate them and make them easier to manage, ignored for long periods of time, not toileted regularly or given adequate treatment for common conditions.
There were also relatively frequent cases of abuse and bullying of staff and residents, said the report, which recommended the appointment of an aged care commissioner and technical working party to address the problems highlighted.
But the NZACA said the report, which had input specifically from Green MP Sue Kedgley and Labour MP Winnie Laban, lacked robustness, balance or objectivity.
Chief executive Martin Taylor was critical of the meetings which generated the report, saying they were not balanced or objective.
"In fact Sue Kedgley started each meeting with an ill-informed view about the sector then invited the audience to recount their own negative stories," Mr Taylor said.
He said the report was in contrast to "the most robust research on the aged residential care sector ever undertaken", being the Aged Residential Care Service Review, released last month with input from district health boards, NZACA and the Ministry of Health.
"Unfortunately the Labour/Green report records negative anecdotal stories spanning many years. As such, it is not robust nor gives a balanced view. It's essentially like asking your own political supporters to endorse your political position and then claiming your particular world view has public support."
Mr Taylor said that while the stories told at meetings would have been genuine, 40,000 elderly received care each year in about 700 facilities from 35,000 staff. "To expect all staff and all residents to do the right thing all of the time is unrealistic."
He pointed out much of the aged care sector was designed when Labour and the Greens were in power, something Health Minister Tony Ryall also noted.
"The OAG (Office of the Auditor-General) was highly critical of the lack of action between 2002 and 2008 and it was particularly critical of the agencies that audit rest homes, and this is a concern that the Government shares," Mr Ryall said.
He said the Government didn't consider an aged care commissioner was necessary, and that steps had for some time been underway to address a lot of the issues raised in the report.
The sector receives $800 million in government funding every year.
