The Nurses Union is calling for mandated staffing levels and an increase in spot auditing to ensure adequate standards of care are being met in New Zealand's rest homes.
Nurses say the case of a 103-year-old woman who was photographed tied to a bed at an award-winning Palmerston North rest home is not an isolated incident.
The Mid Central District Health Board says its draft audit on the Rose A Lea Rest Home will not be released until next week.
A whistleblower drew attention to the home with photos of the
elderly woman tied to her bed.
The home has been temporarily shut down and the residents shifted
to other facilities.
Mike Grant of the Mid Central District Health Board says it had to act.
"The images were graphic and they were gut-wrenching. And that meant that we were compelled to act," he says.
The health board says it is now also investigating another rest home in the area.
