Choice not chance for older New Zealanders
Horowhenua is a changing demographic. In the last few years we have seen positive growth in the number of building consents and a lot of talk about population movement from Wellington northwards.
The interesting aspect of the growth of late is that census figures revealed there was very little real population growth, so the growth is coming from investment in the district from both within and outside. The census figures did reveal that as well as being a lifestyle and coastal district, we have also become a retirement hub. The Horowhenua Kapiti region is now up there with retirement meccas like Tauranga and has one of the highest proportions of populations aged over 65 years in New Zealand.
About half a million New Zealanders are now aged over 65 years and this is forecast to double by 2031, with the onset of baby boomers into retirement.
This presents both a challenge and an opportunity for our district and our country.
Last year my colleague Jo Goodhew MP visited some Horowhenua rest homes to hear some of the main issues that we faced locally in the aged care sector. As it turned out these issues were common across most of the country.
Jo Goodhew prepared a paper titled ‘Choice not Chance for older New Zealanders’ from her work, and this was launched by National Leader John Key recently. The 20-page paper seeks your feedback to ensure robust solutions to some of the key issues identified and put into action. National wants to ensure people age with the dignity and respect deserved.
The paper has five key themes:
Older people need independence and a choice of care providers who meet national standards of care
They need a continuum of care to ensure that access to health and social-care services is seamless
The aged-care sector needs sustainable funding to improve capacity to meet the growth in demand of aged-care services
It needs a trained and skilled workforce that delivers safe, quality care
It will need to use technologies that can deal with aged-care issues in the decades ahead.
The paper also covers issues with residential care, home-based care, informal care, workforce development, ensuring consistency of care, co-ordination of care and quality of care.
Locally I know there have been concerns with aged-care sector funding, including the flow of funds from Government through the District Health Board to aged care providers and the care givers.
Finding care givers, or those with suitable training, is also an issue and National proposes to establish an aged-care Industry Training Organisation to oversee independent providers of training. We believe that enhancing the skills of the aged-care workforce will help to reduce turnover and improve care.
In Horowhenua the care giver turnover is reported to be as high as 40%. With a bit more support, including remunerating staff for the skills they have National hopes to reduce this figure. This is important as those being cared for, and their families, need consistency of care from care givers who often become friends.
Currently rest home providers are burdened by unnecessary compliance costs, and have too many audit hoops to jump through. We all agree that rest homes should be audited but there are just too many audits and these are costly.
There is much more in the paper. Its aim is that our senior citizens will have a choice of the care and services they want to access to meet their needs in order to enjoy their twilight years. Whether it’s staying at home and relying on home support, shared accommodation with joint facilities or living in a retirement village.
You can obtain a copy of the ‘Choice Not Chance for Older New Zealanders’ discussion paper from my office, or downloaded from National’s website www.national.org.nz.
I also invite you to meet a group of National MPs at a public meeting in Levin’s Memorial Hall this Friday, October 12, starting at 12.15pm. See you then.