A former enrolled nurse, Rhonda Mabon, 72, said she told Health Minister Simeon Brown she was ‘‘in desperate need of a break’’ to recharge so she could continue to be with her partner ‘‘throughout this tragic journey we are now on’’.
Her husband, John Mabon, 75, has a rare brain disorder as well as aspiration pneumonia.
He needed to be turned over in bed every two hours because he could not do it himself.
‘‘I’m bloody well knackered,’’ Mrs Mabon said
She could not leave the house for more than half an hour, she said.
Aware of other local fulltime family caregivers, she said if her husband could have a week’s hospice care it would be invaluable.
‘‘Respite is not a luxury, it is what allows carers to continue.’’
There were great hospice nurses in Queenstown, but no hospice facility.
Two or three rooms and maybe also a family room, in the former 36-room Lake Wakatipu Care Centre, which has been vacant for 18 months, would make ‘‘a huge difference to people who find themselves in the same situation as we are now’’.
‘‘I read it’s going to take a long time yet because the rooms need to be reconfigured and brought up to health standards ... there were people in it two years ago, there was nothing wrong with it.
‘‘It probably just needs a good cleanup. It just needs to not sit empty for another two years.’’
She told Mr Brown she was not asking for a new hospital or building.
‘‘It’s there already and there would be no shortage of volunteers to help with anything that may be needed for this to happen.’’
Another resident, Karina Reid, said her mother, Jean Young, 86, spent her last nine days at Lakes District Hospital, which her family was very grateful for.
‘‘But the hospital wouldn’t normally probably do it long-term and it depends how busy it is.
‘‘We had to be aware at some point we may be transferred into hospice care, somewhere.’’
Like Mrs Mabon, she thought some rooms in the adjacent former rest-home could also be used for hospice care.
Wakatipu Care Trust chairman Michael White, whose trust has been campaigning for a local hospice and respite/palliative care centre for many years, said he despaired at Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora over its apparent indecision over the future of the site.
‘‘They’re saying the rooms are not within code and they probably have to be knocked down — well, that happens when you leave rooms for 18 months doing nothing.
‘‘If they were to make a decision and say we could have some of those rooms, I’m sure we could bring them up to code.’’
In a statement, Lakes District Hospital general manager Simon Donlevy said he was told the wing was not configured or at an appropriate standard to immediately place healthcare services in the building.
To ensure the space could fit within the long-term health needs of the region, an assessment of the layout and infrastructure of the building was needed and while that happened HNZ was considering options for the space.
Such options include an extended clinical space, further office space for local HNZ staff, or privately-run community health services.
The statement was a nearly identical response to what was provided to Allied Media last April after inquiring about the future of the wing.
The only new information was HNZ expected the clinical services planning work under way for the Central Lakes area would ‘‘help to inform the future use of the space.’’
