Kris
FAAFOI
Associate Health (Aged Care) Spokesperson

30 April 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT
National needs to wake up to aged care crisis

The Government’s failure to recognise a looming crisis within the aged care sector has been reinforced with today’s ‘just enough to get by’ pre-Budget funding announcement, Labour’s Aged Care spokesperson Kris Faafoi says.

“The 2010 Grant Thornton Report, commissioned by National, warned that an extra 12,000 to 20,000 New Zealanders will require residential aged care by 2026, with the numbers of new beds needed to meet demand rising by at least 30,000. Facilities for people with dementia were a priority.

“Yet two years on and the Minister of Health, Tony Ryall, and Associate Minister Jo Goodhew both appear to have their heads firmly stuck in the sand.

“Ignoring tomorrow’s problem today won’t make it go away.

“This funding might help in some way at a community level, but it won’t address what is tipped to be the major health issue in the not too distant future.

“The $5 million annual funding for home care doesn’t compensate in any way for the thousands of hours of care axed in Budget 2010.

“Once again the Government is showing it is well out of touch with what is really going on in New Zealand. It’s time someone stepped up and showed some leadership,” Kris Faafoi said.

ENDS

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