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If you have concerns about the care you or someone you know is receiving in a residential care facility, you have the right to speak up. This guide outlines the support available to help you through the process.
Talk to the residential care provider
Start by raising your concerns directly with the care home manager. Most issues can be resolved quickly at this level. The provider can:
- answer questions about care or services
- clarify the resident’s admission agreement or private contract
- address immediate care concerns or complaints.
Get support from a Health and Disability Advocate
The Nationwide Health and Disability Advocacy Service (Advocacy Service) offers free support to anyone receiving residential care. Their network of advocates work in community offices around the country and regularly visit residential care homes to meet with residents and their families. Advocates can:
- help you identify the issues and what resolution looks like
- support you in raising concerns with the care provider
- talk to residential care staff about the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights, including consumers’ right to complain.
To contact the Advocacy Service, call 0800 555 050 or visit the Advocacy Service website.
For complaints related to an aged care facility or a community mental health facility
You can contact your local Health of Older Persons Portfolio Manager at Health New Zealand. They may:
- work with specialist clinical staff to assess the issue
- visit the facility to gather information
- contact you with their findings.
| Northland | [email protected] |
|---|---|
| Waitemata | [email protected] |
| Auckland | [email protected] |
| Counties Manukau | [email protected] |
| Waikato | [email protected] |
| Bay of Plenty | [email protected] |
| Lakes | [email protected] |
| Tairawhiti | [email protected] |
| Taranaki | [email protected] |
| Hawkes Bay | [email protected] |
| Whanganui | [email protected] |
| MidCentral | [email protected] |
| Wairarapa | [email protected] |
| Capital and Coast | [email protected] |
| Hutt Valley | [email protected] |
| Nelson Marlborough | [email protected] |
| Canterbury | [email protected] |
| West Coast | [email protected] |
| South Canterbury | [email protected] |
| Southern | [email protected] |
For complaints related to a facility providing residential disability services or a resident receiving Disability Support Services (DSS) funded care
You can contact Disability Support Services in the Ministry for Social Development by:
- visiting the DSS website
- emailing [email protected]
- phoning 0800 566 601.
If you feel that your concerns haven’t been addressed
You can contact HealthCERT at the Ministry of Health. Note: HealthCERT can also carry out spot inspections. This isn't an immediate response to your care questions and gathering information may take time.
Contact the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC)
The HDC investigates complaints about health and disability services, including aged care. They may:
- refer your complaint to another agency
- provide recommendations or education (often after receiving advice from clinical experts)
- refer the complaint to Health New Zealand or to the Advocacy Service for resolution between the parties
- conduct a formal investigation (in serious cases). This can be a lengthy process (over a year) and may not provide immediate answers to questions about the care provided.
To contact HDC, visit their website: Health and Disability Commissioner – Te Toihau Hauora, Hauātanga or call 0800 11 22 33.
The Aged Care Commissioner, part of the HDC, provides oversight of the aged care sector and may also investigate complaints. Visit their website for more information: Aged Care Commissioner – HDC.
For complaints about costs
If you’re concerned about fees or charges, you can:
- talk to your residential care provider
- contact Health New Zealand/DSS
- seek legal advice
- consider the Disputes Tribunal (formerly known as Small Claims Tribunal). Visit their website for more information: How to make a claim .
Helpful resources
These resources, jointly developed with the Ministry of Health, are available in multiple languages and formats to support residents, families, and providers:
- Easy Read
- Easy Read
This poster is also available in the following languages:
- Māori (pdf, 161 KB)
- Samoan (pdf, 165 KB)
- Tongan (pdf, 196 KB)
- Tokelauan (pdf, 169 KB)
- Tuvaluan (pdf, 193 KB)
- Simplified Chinese (pdf, 247 KB)
- Tagalog (pdf, 193 KB)
This poster is also available in the following languages:
- Māori (pdf, 175 KB)
- Samoan (pdf, 195 KB)
- Tongan (pdf, 193 KB)
- Tokelauan (pdf, 175 KB)
- Tuvaluan (pdf, 175 KB)
- Simplified Chinese (pdf, 204 KB)
- Tagalog (pdf, 198 KB)
You can learn more about these resources from Simon Wallace, former CEO of New Zealand Aged Care Association. Watch the video:
Transcript
[Simon Wallace, New Zealand Aged Care Association CEO to camera] Generally things go really well when an older person is in care but on the rare occasions when it doesn’t go so well it’s critical that there’s an effective complaints system in place for residents, for families and whanau, and actually for the rest home providers themselves.
We’ve developed a really easy to use suite of resources to help people navigate the complaints process so they can be used by residents and families and they can be used by the rest home providers themselves.
The rest home providers can use these resources for training their own staff, for their nurses and their caregivers and their other staff.
They can be used in an admission agreement that the rest home is giving to the family and they can be used for a whole variety of other training purposes.
They can also be used around the rest home and pinned up for staff and families to view.
We absolutely want to make the complaints process a lot easier for all the parties involved, for the residents, for the families, for the rest home providers themselves, and even for the government agencies that are involved.
And we think this is a really easily accessible set of resources that can be used to help that process.
Complaints can actually be a really positive thing and they help all of us to improve what we’re doing and we’ve got some good tips here to help us to be able to achieve that.
Other resources
- Nationwide Health & Disability Advocacy Service
- The Office of the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC)
Further help
If you're unsure where to start or need guidance, contact the HealthCERT team for advice.
