Sneha Pillai

The Sapere report on the state of the aged care affirms what the government has known for at almost two decades, says the Aged Care Association (ACA).

The first part of a full review of aged care services and funding, the report’s findings are consistent with the findings of the 2000 PWC report, the 2010 Grant Thornton report, 2014 Grant Thornton report the 2019 EY report, several Ansell Strategic reports, and the Aged Care Association’s own research.

ACA chair, Simon O’Dowd says, “Governments of the past 15 years have ignored the evidence and neglected the aged care sector. We are now at a point where over half of all aged care facilities are making a loss.”

“Unless there is a significant change of strategy and focus to support and fund the sector now, we will see thousands of New Zealanders unable to get the care they need within a decade. As the report notes, there is already an average waiting time of six months for people with dementia to get the care they need, and the country will be short 12,000 aged care beds within a decade.”

“The second part of the aged care service and funding review is critical. We are at a tipping point. If we don’t get this right, the consequences will be dire for the entire health system.”

“There are always going to be people who need round-the-clock care. We need to make sure that residential aged care is always available, and that includes hospital-level care, dementia care, care for young people with disabilities, and palliative care. If that care is not able to be provided in the aged care sector, it will be provided in hospitals; limiting the care available for others.”

“It is our expectation that the Association will be working closely with the Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora review team to develop and implement solutions for the aged care sector that will enable us to provide quality care for New Zealand’s seniors, now and into the future,” O’Dowd says.