Brontë Dixon

The Minister for Disability Issues, Hon. Louise Upston, has confirmed that there will be no funding increase for disabled adults in aged care, but has asked the Aged Care Association to be involved in a solution for the sector.

Over 1,000 people with disabilities live in aged residential care facilities. The funding freeze announced recently by the Minister poses challenges for those people and the providers who care for them.

We expect our members will be seriously considering whether they can continue providing care for adults with disabilities. Aged residential care facilities are already on a knife edge, and this funding freeze makes a difficult environment even worse.

The more positive news is that Minister Upston has moved swiftly to address our concerns by establishing an internal taskforce to review disability support service funding models and the commitment to developing an engagement program where we will have the opportunity to participate. The ACA is ready to collaborate with the Taskforce to ensure that the voices of our members are heard in this important process.

We strongly urge the Minister of Health to take similar steps, by establishing a Ministerial Taskforce to work alongside us in addressing broader challenges in the aged care sector. Collaborative solutions are essential for creating a sustainable aged care system that can effectively meet the needs of our communities.

The Aged Care Association is calling on the Government to follow the lead of Australia’s Minister for Aged Care and immediately create a taskforce from the aged care sector to assist them in addressing the immediate need to release pressure on hospital beds.

“The Government’s Nation-wide Service and Campus Planning report shows that without changes to the way we deliver safe and sustainable support to our growing senior community, by 2043, 9 out of 10 hospital beds will be filled by someone aged 65 or over,” says Aged Care Association CE Tracey Martin. “If the Government would work with those of us in the sector currently delivering care, we can help them develop a practical, workable and sustainable care continuum that will release some of this pressure. However, to date our offers to co-design have been ignored or dismissed.”

Ms Martin points to the work done by the Australian Minister for Aged Care, Anika Wells, who not only formed an Aged Care Taskforce but personally chaired it herself. “That is a Minister who has taken the bull by the horns, and working with those on the frontline of community and residential care, delivered their report in March this year to the Australian Government. That report means that once again the Australians are a step ahead of us towards delivering a sustainable aged care system that provides high quality care to all Australians now and into the future.”

“We were very disappointed when the Associate Minister of Health with delegations for Aged Care declined our offer to travel to Australia in a cross-party delegation to gain a greater understanding of the changes implemented over the last two years by our Aussie neighbours,” Tracey continues. “We know the government is cash-strapped so our Association had offered to finance the visit, because our members are passionate about ensuring that the seniors of today and tomorrow are not left without the appropriate level of care or support just because this government wants to keep them out of a hospital bed.”

“We reiterate our concerns that Te Whatu Ora is designing a new care delivery model behind closed doors, with no provision for co-design.” Ms Martin points out “The Ageing Well Team has been instructed to save 200,000 bed nights per year in our hospitals. We join with our home and community colleagues to once again offer to work collaboratively with the Minister to ensure that we design a system that works for our seniors and communities, not just for Te Whatu Ora and cost savings.”

The recent decision by Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand to decommission the four flexi-beds used for respite care at the Rangiora Health Hub is deeply concerning for aged care providers and the community. The decision to reallocate the space at Rangiora Health Hub for other purposes should not come at the expense of essential respite care services.

The claim that there is adequate capacity within aged residential care facilities to absorb the demand for respite care is misleading. While North Canterbury does have several ARC facilities, only one of these says it has a single bed dedicated to respite care. Many of these providers are already operating at or near full capacity, and the availability of respite care is always conditional to beds being vacant between long-term residents.

We would also point out to Te Whatu Ora that Aged Residential Care providers are not compensated for the additional costs incurred in admitting and caring for short term, as compared to long term, residents. Additionally, providers are not funded to offer respite capacity, and so most providers must prioritise providing a bed to a long-term resident over respite requests.

The Aged Care Association strongly refutes the comments that Aged Residential Care facilities in North Canterbury have sufficient capacity to allow Te Whatu Ora to relieve itself of respite care responsibilities. Statements such as these continue to ignore the reality being faced daily by our members, and the removal of respite care services without ensuring there is long term sustainable alternative provision will instead place more pressure on already stretched families, whanau and caregivers.

It is essential to recognise the unique needs of those requiring respite care, and the vital support these services offer to maintain the wellbeing of both the caregivers and care recipients.

The Aged Care Association calls on Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand and the Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey to work more collaboratively with the aged care sector to find sustainable solutions that address the real needs of the families and community.

Respite care is a critical service that provides temporary relief to caregivers, ensuring that individuals with complex health needs receive appropriate care in a supportive environment. This level of care often requires specialised staff and resources, which may not be readily available in all aged care facilities.

In Minister Bishop’s speech announcing future development and growth requirements for councils, he articulated his belief that a well-functioning housing market that delivers thriving cities, growing productivity, and super-charged industry will create a future that is bright for everyone. At the Aged Care Association, we want to ensure that the Government, both local and central, ensures that the future they envision creating is just as bright for New Zealand seniors.

Last year, the Retirement Commission reported a doubling of the number of retirees who will be forced to rent over the next 25 years. The 2023 review identified that 20 percent of those aged over 65 do not own their own homes. This figure is expected to jump to 40 percent, or 600,000 people, within the next 24 years.

“We would like to see some thought put into ‘circular house planning,’” said Aged Care Association CE, Tracey Martin. “What we mean by that is when councils are zoning for and consenting these new apartments proposed by the Minister, let’s ensure they can deliver for young couples just starting out on their lives together, starting their family; perhaps before they move into their next more spacious property. But these dwellings also need to acknowledge that one day those young, vibrant couples will also be aged and could need to return to a low maintenance, public-transport-accessible living place. As a country, let’s be smart about this and ensure that these smaller-sized homes are accessible for all, with wider doorways, wet rooms, and no steps – to name just a few design points.

“We also need local government and councils to ensure that their 30-year growth plans include development land earmarked for aged residential care,” said Ms. Martin. “This must include lifestyle provision for all sections of our society. Not all seniors can, will, or want to buy into a large, well-appointed retirement village. Not-for-profit and charitable village, rest home, and residential care facilities must be included in 30-year development and growth planning.”

Over the next 30 years, Aotearoa New Zealand’s population of seniors will grow from around 850,000 (17 percent of the population) to around 1.5 million (24 percent of the population), so any failure to plan for these New Zealanders when considering housing and health care delivery would be an unforgivable omission.