What we did last year
This report belongs to the Committee you elected at the last AGM on 15 June 2022.
At last year’s AGM Murray Edridge spoke to us about the work of the Wellington City Mission and their plans for the future. We understand that their supermarket is going well and the other projects are progressing at a great pace.
This report resembles much of what we said last year. Wellington Central Grey Power doesn’t run like many associations, which have bigger and more active memberships, monthly social meetings, and an office open during specific hours. However, post-COVID many Associations are finding it harder to keep up that way of operating. The main problem is finding volunteer members for the many positions needed to run an association.
Our constitution provides for five Officers of the Association – Chairman, Vice-Charman, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Secretary. As two of our elected Officers at our last AGM resigned during the year because of poor health, the four remaining Wellington Central volunteers undertook more than one task. It could be said that we are in breach of our constitution, but we remain an active association. We thank Terry and Elaine Scoble for their long and dedicated service to Grey Power. As with other Associations, a number of members join primarily so they can take advantage of Grey Power Electricity discount. And many of our members are elderly and not as mobile as they might like.
Pat Hubbard was a long-standing member of the Association and the Committee. She resigned from the Committee several years ago when her health started to fail. We were saddened by Pat’s death and remember her as a committed and hard-worker member of the Grey Power team. Our condolences to Pat’s daughter Caroline, who was our Secretary for many years.
We have co-opted two new members to your Committee: Alastair Duncan and Daniel Cole. Both bring new skills to the Committee and we are grateful for them for putting up their hands.
The Association is an active member of Zone 4, which covers 19 Associations in the lower part of the North Island. In August I was elected as the Zone 4 Representative on the Grey Power Federation Board. With involvement at all levels of the organisation I see the depth of knowledge on the Board. I chair the Communications and Marketing Standing Committee and have been involved in strategic planning work for the Board.
The Wellington Central Association Executive Committee would like to see a Board with a more strategic focussed approach to the Federation’s work. Straying into the current year, we hoped the Board would identify four or five particular areas of focus on which to concentrate at candidate meetings before the October general election. Remembering the initial success of the Grey Power movement was the removal of the superannuation surtax. Similarly we would like to see the Board being proactive, raising the issues and setting the agenda, rather than being reactionary.
Our Vice President, David Cuthbert, attended the Federation AGM in Wellington last July. At that meeting you could hear the different thinking within the Associations. This year the AGM is being held at the Brentwood Hotel, Kilbirnie on 27-29 June. Any member can attend as an observer.
We advertised a public meeting with speaker Glynis Denz from the Retirement Villages Residents Association, where more members of the public attended than members. It showed there is a need for information about topics of interest to seniors. The meeting was a success so while we have the resources, we will continue to advertise public meetings.
If you have a topic you would like us to discuss please tell us – we look forward to hearing your views.
The Christmas luncheon was not as well-attended as in the past; we attracted only six members. The Association sponsors the luncheon up to $20 a head from The Grand in Courtenay Place.
The Committee’s quarterly newsletter is members’ link to our work. Email is our preferred method of distribution. We still post newsletters to members who do not have email or haven’t shared their email address with us. And we understand that some people don’t enjoy reading online.
The Association has a long-standing membership relationship with Age Concern and Presbyterian Support Services and attends their AGMs.
Our financial position is healthy, and as from 1 January 2023 the Federation capitation fee increased from $5 to $7.50 per member. We didn’t increase our membership to cover that, rather we reduced the single membership by $5 and our reserves are still healthy. We are happy to keep our membership fee low so as not to exclude any potential member.
The Committee is your committee. Don’t be shy. We welcome new committee members. The workload is not onerous. If you would like to be our Secretary, Treasurer or Committee member you will be welcomed. The Committee meets at 1pm on the first Monday of the month at the Mt Vic Hub.
We are planning several public meetings about important issues for seniors for later in the year.
So, thank you very much to Committee members, David Cuthbert our trusty Vice-President and minute taker, Bruce McLachlan who has stepped into the Treasurer role, and Owen Watson who prepares the newsletter and does a multitude of tasks. We are quite a team and are grateful to have been joined by Alastair Duncan and Damien Cole.
Colleen Singleton
President, Wellington Central Grey Power Association
Sorting out your problems with the health & disability services
The Nationwide Health and Disability Advocacy Service is a free service that operates independently from all health and disability service providers.
If you have concerns about any of the services you are receiving, you have the right to complain. Advocates are there to help you through the process.
Problems can arise even with the best service due to misunderstandings or miscommunication. That’s why there are mechanisms and procedures you can use if you are at all dissatisfied with the service you have received.
An Advocate is available to answer your questions, support you, encourage you to act, and help you resolve issues with the treatment you may have received. While they are not investigators or mediators, and don’t make decisions on whether there has been a breach of your rights an advocate can support you through the whole complaints process.
Benefits of using the Advocacy service:
- Flexible and time effective.
- Gives you the opportunity to actively participate in finding resolution.
- Gives providers the chance to explain their actions and work with you on solutions.
- Enables a better ongoing relationship between you and the provider.
- Free, independent, and confidential.
Freephone 0800 555 050, visit www.advocacy.org.nz or email advocacy@advocacy.org.nz
Megan Bate of the advocacy service spoke at our AGM in June. One of our members asked about delays in getting his orthotic shoes; would she be able to deal with that? She assured him that this would be covered by the service, but a few days later his shoes turned up and her intervention was not required.
Strong public support for universal pension
A University of Otago study shows the majority of the population are against means-testing the pension, and against increasing the age of eligibility. There’s even support for increasing tax to help pay for it. This was not covered by Stuff or the NZ Herald. More details are on the Retirement Commission website (they paid for the study).
Bored?
Some listings from Volunteers Wellington:
Volunteer Walking Tour Guide
Provide a guided tour for visitors who have booked the Essentials Wellington walking tour departing 10am from the Wellington i-SITE Visitor Centre.
Education Training Coordination Basic to intermediate level of education in English is required. Provide Education support work to the group of ethnic women and children
Archivist Assistant we are looking for someone to collate, archive and organise Vogelmorn’s imagery and media
No excuses now . . .
Steady as you go
Excellent exercise classes organised all round the region by Age Concern; lots of them are full up but this list shows the vacancies.- There’s also Zoom classes for the shy or geographically challenged.
Want to know more?
We found a useful information resource for oldies on the Selwyn Foundation website; with articles on heart health, dogs, housing, care options and lots more.
Grey Power policy is to support legislated safe staffing in aged care. So why hasn’t it happened?
The recent publication of a full-page newspaper advertisement signed by a number of retirement village committees’ extolling the virtues of ‘licence to occupy’ living may, or may not , have been a genuine expression of satisfaction with their living arrangements in their corporate controlled villages. It was certainly not clear who had paid for the advertisement and it generated some considerable debate in a range of news outlets.
Village residents may have a voice. But what about those in care?
Some 40,000 people live in rest home or hospital care. Between them the private and publicly listed corporates control one in every three aged care facilities. (Source: NZ Aged Care Association 2020)
Getting admission to quality care is not easy; assuming there is quality care available. Last year I contacted six Wellington providers and only one returned my phone call. Assuming you do find the care you or your loved one needs, then cost can be a real issue.
The state does rightly subsidise care, but with asset testing and providers adding premium charges for what were once basic services. Residential care is not cheap. I asked one of the corporates to quantify the how they calculated the ‘extra’ charges for a family member”s room. Size, amenities, and even the quality of the view out the window were all in the mix. You do indeed pay to view!
Yes, care facilities should look nice, but behind the themed carpet and corporate logos, the job of delivering care remains one of the hardest and most undervalued occupations in this country. As the sector moved from hospital board and church care to todays privatised model, the few regulations that once governed staffing levels disappeared.
Providers used to have to comply with safe staffing regulations, last updated in 1987. However, these were developed when acuity levels among residents were much lower and the biggest challenge for visitors was finding a place to park among the residents parking!
In 2004 the regulations were replaced with service contract general obligations with little or no actual defined staff/resident levels. While providers may claim to be ‘meeting’ their obligations these are at best opaque. Add in chronic staff shortages and turnover and the result is too few staff and too little care.
Regulation is at the core of how we keep each other safe. For the greater good, we regulate food safety, road safety, building standards and, of course, law and order. So why not in aged care?
A decade ago, the Human Rights Commission called for compulsory staffing levels in aged care. Greypower supported that call. As recently as Christmas 2021 a national petition called for mandated safe staffing in aged care.
But it hasn’t happened.
Within the sector there are two intrinsically opposed views. The owners” lobby group, the Aged Care Association has actively opposed regulated staffing levels asserting that self-regulation works best. By contrast the care unions (NZNO and E tu) along with Grey Power have repeatedly called for minimum staffing guarantees, arguing that care is complex work that requires skilled and sufficient staff.
The carers I meet are incredibly hard working and committed, a mix of new migrants and ‘old ‘hands. Kristine Bartlett, who fronted the court case (Bartlett v Terra Nova 2014) that lead to the $2 billion settlement of her class action pay claim, told me “what the girls really want is safe staffing”.
Now another equal pay claim is upon the sector. It is likely the workers will win and the government will pay out – on behalf of the employers. But without enforceable staffing standards some of those employers will then try to cut costs by reducing staffing levels again.
Will the next government act on staffing levels? Ten months after the most recent safe staffing petition was presented to a Parliament, the select committee considering the request, declined to recommend legislation and the chair declined to comment for this article.
Every day, hardworking carers juggle the needs of multiple residents; skipping breaks and going home exhausted. Too few workers mean care missed. That’s not fair on staff and not fair on residents.
Commercial law may or may not protect the interests of ‘licence to occupy’ village residents. But that ignores those in the rest home and hospital wing. Without a ‘care’ options, living in a retirement village could be just another suburban sprawl. It’s the peace of mind that onsite care delivers, that clinches many a sale.
Protecting 40,000 kiwis in care could yet be a vote winner this October. If the politicians are listening.
Alastair Duncan is a committee member of Grey Power Wellington Central and worked for aged care unions in NZ and overseas.
Now is the Summerset of our discontent
You may have seen the article in Stuff by Janine Starks about Summerset being made to repay $37,000 for breaching the Retirement Villages Act. The care in their dementia unit was deficient, they didn’t disclose that the client’s unit had been rented out by someone else, and there were extra unjustified charges. (Summerset are appealing one of the claims). Caveat emptor!
Hear ye!
If you’re looking round for hearing aids, Consumer had a useful article in their autumn edition with useful tips. There are lots of stories out there of people being charged huge amounts and not getting an aid that works properly, so do your research. Consumer is usually available at libraries, and you can read the article online here.
They also suggest Your way/Kia Roha, a non-profit that does free hearing tests and advice.
Money money money
MoneyHub has good guide to costs and other things to consider if you’re thinking of rest home or retirement village life. Rest home costs | Retirement villages
New World discount
Receive 5% off groceries on Tuesdays when you show your Super Gold Card in store. Exclusive to New World Newtown. (A member reports that the same deal is available in the Island Bay branch).
Memory bags
Wellington City Libraries will be releasing a new service for senior people: Memory bag.
It contains vintage items, conversation cards, vintage images for a range of experience. It’s designed for people with dementia or memory loss, and their supporters. Although anyone can borrow them as a resource for activities.
More: Wcl.govt.nz/memorybag
Plague lessons
The usual reaction to covid now (unless you’ve caught it) is one of boredom: been there, caught that. However, we can still learn from what went wrong (and right) in the past few years. Massey University’s Health and Ageing Research Team has produced a useful study that is aimed at policy makers for the next pandemic. It describes the elderly as a diverse group that need a variety of responses. Many elderly are very resilient and can help other people: however, when elderly volunteers were laid off at the height of the pandemic many have not returned. Others who are at the bottom of the socio-economic pile (the lonely, disabled, sick, minorities) suffered a lot and need a lot more help.