A hidden camera in a rest home room captured a caregiver slapping a man and manhandling him on his bed.

Piri Hemi, 86, has dementia, limited mobility and can't see or hear well, but that didn't stop a caregiver abusing the kindly grandfather.

Since the incident, Piri's horrified family have pulled him out of the Cascades facility in Hamilton, to be cared for at the family home in the city's northern Rototuna suburb.

DOMINICO ZAPATA/FAIRFAX NZ Piri Hemi, 86, was slapped by a rest home caregiver, so now he lives with son Allan Hemi and his family.

Cascades – billed as the city's most luxurious retirement village – says it is shocked by the one-off incident and the caregiver has since resigned.



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Police will decide whether to prosecute once an investigation is finished.

After viewing the family's covert video, Waikato District Health Board agreed with Piri's family that the footage was unacceptable, but it also said the camera breached the privacy of rest home workers and Piri himself.

The Hemi family reluctantly put Piri into a rest home when his care needs got too much for Piri's wife of 65 years, Betty, son Allan Hemi said.

Piri moved into The Cascades on February 3 for hospital-level care and the family visited daily.

After about three weeks, Piri stopped his characteristic singing and whistling, and wasn't talking, Allan said, then one day he put his hands over his head and said, "Don't hit me, I'm dumb."

The thought of what might be happening to his dad gave Allan nightmares.

"I was actually having dreams of seeing them doing real bad things to him ... Sometimes I didn't want to go to sleep."

Allan wasn't confident past concerns had been acted on, so the family put a motion-activated camera by Piri's bed in early April.

Many of the rest home workers were great, but about 7am on June 11, the camera caught a caregiver giving Piri an audible slap on the hip.

She also slapped repeatedly on his forehead and roughly moved him around the bed.

The footage came soon after Piri had fallen, denting a wall with his head, and the family were angry.

They took the video to Diane Rodger, general manager of care services for the Sanderson Group, which owns Cascades, and later met with the group owners.

On June 17 the family took Piri out of the home.

At one stage, Rodger told Allan that he, his wife Priscilla​ and his mum Betty were terrorising the staff, Allan said.

He said they had gone straight to staff, trying to follow up concerns, on several occasions because they felt they weren't being told the truth.

After 10 weeks, Allan doesn't feel like they're getting anywhere.

"We've talked to so many people and they just seem, yes, yes, okay, but nothing happens," he said.

"We thought we would do it properly, go through the proper channels. But nothing's happening ... I've had a gutsful."

Allan and Priscilla moved house so they'd have space for Piri and Betty to live with them and their three kids.

They also took on the demanding care responsibilities – but Piri is singing and whistling again.

"They stole his spirit at Cascades," Allan said.

THE REST HOME SAYS

In a written statement, Cascades and the Sanderson Group said: "It came as a big shock. One incident like this is one too many."

The family-owned company said the incident was a "one off" and the carer had resigned.

"Cascades has never had any complaints of staffing misconduct toward residents since opening over 10 years ago."

The caregiver involved had been employed at the home more than a year. Cascades said it had met twice with the Hemi family and offered to help organise Piri's care at home.

The rest home also "reviewed its systems and processes" and would up the frequency of spot task analyses, the statement said.

THE DISTRICT HEALTH BOARD SAYS

The care shown on the footage was unacceptable, senior planning manager Paul Keesing said.

He was not available for a phone interview but, in a written response, said there was no further action the health board could take against the caregiver because it hadn't been her employer.

"However, there are questions about The Cascades' timeliness of actions taken with the caregiver," he said.

The health board was also worried about the "covert surveillance".

It was installed "without facility permission, and most significantly without [Piri Hemi's] permission, as he was unable to give consent and had no legal representation," the response said.

"This was a breach of Mr Hemi's privacy and also that of The Cascades' staff delivering care without knowledge of the surveillance."

The health board investigated Cascades and has given the rest home a list of eight "corrective actions".

The Hemi family will be told once all eight are completed to the health board's satisfaction.

A complaint has also been made to the Health and Disability Commissioner but his office replied to inquiries with an email declining to comment.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT A FAMILY MEMBER

• Speak to the manager of the facility. If you feel uncomfortable, a free, independent Health and Disability advocate can help. Ring 0800 555 050.

• If you're not satisfied with the response, you can complain to the district health board, HealthCert or the Health and Disability Commissioner.

– Source: Waikato District Health Board