Yes (soon to be) Prime Minister…

Copy of Speech by CEO Terry Bell to Mr John Key and guests at the Ngaio Wing Opening at West Harbour Gardens

25th February 2008

For those of you either working at the coal-face of residential care or receiving residential care services it will come as no surprise when I confirm that our industry is facing some very difficult challenges.

Not a month goes by without a media report where residential care has failed the standards society expects of us – in plain English that means that an elderly person who relies on us to care for their frail body AND to support and inspire their ‘soul’ has been let down by the sector!

Underlying this are the endemic issues of:
1. Poor forecasting of the need for aged care services
2. Continued failure to coordinate service delivery across the industry
3. An excessive focus on turf and regulation, and
4. Chronically inadequate funding for what is expected of us by society

You and I see the results of this unstable situation as:
1. Excessive and confused regulation
2. Bitter and protracted litigation between funders and providers
3. Turnover of care staff that approaches 1 in 3 staff members every year
4. Wages that are for the bulk of the workforce only marginally above the minimum wage

And so it goes on.

To summarise - residential care is developing a siege mentality. Just at the time when we are being called on to deliver better services to an increasing number of elderly New Zealanders I see inertia and depression settling across the industry. Operators are shell-shocked and they are increasingly dumbing down what they do for their clients – having to focus on clinical compliance rather than life-style enhancement.

Put in simple terms: our sector is increasingly perceived as a ‘waiting room for God’ rather than as a client’s home where we celebrate the last stages of our most vulnerable senior’s lives.

Well at TerraNova we thought “bugger that for a joke!”. Most of the issues I have referred to are ‘reality’ for an operator like TerraNova - and we look to our political system along with our most senior bureaucrats in the Ministry and the DHBs to resolve those highly complex and vexing issues over the longer term.

TerraNova might only provide care for 1% of all of the residents in care in NZ but we fervently believe we have the passion, commitment, energy and scale to make a real difference. We pride ourselves on being in an ideal position as a little corporate in that we are … ...

1. Big enough to have the resources to monitor the trends, to develop innovative solutions to problems of care; to replicate solutions across all our facilities and
2. Small enough to ensure that our sites retain their identity; their uniqueness and their points of difference.
3. You will see our emphasis in all our signage. BIG on the local facility and quietly backed up by the corporate business.

I am blessed with a small team of executives and managers who can and do change elderly lives for the better.

Thus our catch-cries of “It’s our business to care” and being ‘Uniquely NZ” are increasingly underpinned by a clinical governance system that is second to none in NZ. And the daily commitment of our staff is to improve their resident’s lifestyles.

Actually I am not really here today to RE-launch a wing of West Harbour Gardens as the smart new rooms showcasing our ‘uniquely NZ’ theme are just one part in the TerraNova lifestyle focus. Let me quickly give you a flavour of what ‘lifestyles’ will mean to our residents….

1. A commitment to ‘café’ style of dining – after all why shouldn’t residents enjoy the focus on fresh foods with innovative presentation like the rest of us Aucklanders have for years now. Do we really think an older person wouldn’t like a latte or a squeezed fruit juice now and again?
2. Many of our residents are socially and physically isolated – so we encourage them to holiday across the facilities in our group. I assure them (and you) that the vineyards around Hastings are at their best at the moment, that the sight of Lake Taupo and its Mountains are superb in 3-4 months time, and that visiting Parliament at any time is to be recommended.
3. And for those who don’t wish to dabble in travel, our special-interest clubs are proving so popular. There’s not many a man who doesn’t enjoy a beer and a yarn with his new mates in our “blokes shed" whilst working on renovating a dinghy or similar woodcraft project.
4. Ladies seems to prefer cucumber sandwiches and the craft focus of our “Ribbons & Lace” group. But of course the “gardening club” with guest gardeners and an emphasis on seasonal projects will be a big hit at a facility like West Harbour Gardens.

Thus our lifestyle support team, comprising our Clinical Operations manager, our Group Food Services manager, Our Group Diversional Therapist and others are solely on our payroll to assist the Manager of West Harbour Gardens and its sister facilities to “make things happen” within TerraNova.

And yes, of course it isn't easy. We still provide accommodation, meals, cleaning, laundry, medical cares, social activities and events on a daily funding budget about what most people would pay for a provincial city motel or modest hotel bed ALONE . But Jenny and my team come to work every-day saying “how can I and how can we make a difference".

I’d like to close by telling you about one small initiative we are especially proud of:

The Wishing Tree was an idea one of our southern Activities Co-ordinators came up with. She reasoned that having residents voice a wish they would love to come true and then uniting the other residents, staff and, on occasion, the local community to deliver on that wish would bring boundless joy and purpose to lives. She was right and she did it. Wishes have ranged from making home-made chocolates, to returning to a hometown to place flowers on the grave of a husband and son.

We loved it and stole the concept for our other sites, and we even won the prestigious “Innovative Delivery Award” from HealthCare Providers NZ for 2007/08.

TerraNova is honoured to have Mr John Key, MP for Helensville and Leader of the National Party launch our Wishing Tree at West Harbour today. After his speech he will be asked to select the first wish that the team here at West Harbour Gardens will work on.

Thank you all for coming to West Harbour Gardens today.