It has recently been reported in the media that in 2016 a 95-year-old resident of the Mary Shapley Care Home in Whakatane was required to occupy a recliner chair for 24 days, day and night, taking all her meals in lazy-boy-type chair. Due to her health condition the elderly lady needed a hospital bed that could be raised and adjusted to make her comfortable. Several requests were made by the family to the rest home to provide a suitable bed. The rest home responded by saying they were unable to supply an adjustable bed for the lady because there were none.

A spokesperson for the rest home apologised to the family stating, 'The wellbeing of our residents is our absolute priority and we take all concerns about the care received in our homes extremely seriously”. Utter crap. If they took the wellbeing of their resident's care extremely seriously, and this is an absolute priority, why was she treated in this appalling manner? It's inexcusable for anyone in rest home care, regardless of age, to be provided with a chair as their bedding. This amounts to senior abuse. It's horrendous expecting a pensioner to spend all their time while living in a rest home in a chair.

B Porter, Welcome Bay.