Aged care providers are demanding to know more about a list of rest homes identified by health officials as having problems with safety, as fears grow of a nationwide failure within the sector.
Temporary managers have been appointed this week at Villa Gardens Home and Hospital in Christchurch and Ranfurly Manor rest home in Feilding.
The chief executive of the Association of Health Care Providers, Martin Taylor, says he wants more details about the list.
He says the "secret list" Mr Cunliffe has raises more questions than it answers, such as when did the ministry know about these homes, how they got on the list and when were they last certified.
Mr Cunliffe told Parliament on Thursday that none of the homes are in "the league" of the recent Belhaven Rest Home case in Auckland, which has been closed after an elderly resident was found with her mouth taped shut.
Mid-Central Health Board revealed on Thursday that a temporary manager had been assigned to the Feilding rest home in Manawatu, due to safety problems.
The DHB's general manager of funding and planning, Mike Grant, says safety concerns were first reported in June by a consultant and investigations show that they have not been rectified.
Mr Grant says Ranfurly Manor does not have enough registered nurses to ensure an adequate level of care, but it is not facing closure at this stage.
On Wednesday, the Canterbury District Health Board appointed a temporary manager to the Villa Gardens home in Christchurch to investigate claims of sub-standard care of the elderly.
