ACA: New Zealand’s elders need fit-for-purpose aged care – now and into the future

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.

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