Hon Tony Ryall
Minister of Health


30 November 2012 Speech Notes
Opening of Malyon House in Mt Maunganui

Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here today.

I would like to thank the team at Malyon House in particular David and Cecily Munro for inviting me here to officially open the recently rebuilt Malyon House facility.

It is an exciting time for everyone, not only has the facility undergone a major upgrade it has also been extended to provide additional beds and now offers both rest home and hospital level care.

One of the Government’s key expectations for health services is the delivery of better, sooner, more convenient care. This redevelopment is a great example of this as residents can remain here and not have to move when their needs change.

As the population ages and the number of elderly people grows, new challenges are presented to us all – as older people, for their families and for those in Government.

More money however is being spent on aged residential care than ever before. In 2012 the Government invested $907 million into aged residential care - $192 million more than in 2008.

This National lead government is also driving change in the quality of aged care to keep older residents safe and well in the community. I’d like to talk about a few of these today:

Comprehensive Clinical Assessment Tool - interRAI

This Government is committed to providing New Zealanders with high quality residential care. To support that commitment a Comprehensive Clinical Assessment tool is being rolled out into aged residential care.

As many of you know this tool is used for assessing residents and developing a quality plan for their care. This tool will not only support your nurses to identify areas of concern early it will also ensure each resident’s needs are being met.

We have invested more than $10 million over the four years for this project.

There are over 100 facilities across the country already involved. I understand Malyon House is an early adopter of this tool, and I congratulate you on your forward thinking and your commitment to quality care.

Increase in home and community support

We are making it easier for elderly New Zealanders to live independently at home longer by increasing home and community support services.

Nearly 10 million hours of home and community support were provided to elderly New Zealanders last financial year – 1.5 million more hours than four years ago.

This Government is investing $52 million more a year more on home and community support now than when the government started.

Ensuring elderly receive the care they need at home, such as help showering, dressing, preparing a meal, and house work, reduces avoidable emergency department visits, hospital readmissions and early placement in long-term care.

Waikato DHB STARTing well programme

District health boards are also changing the way they deliver services to older people. Waikato DHB, for example, now delivers rehabilitation for older people in their home.

When older patients present at a Waikato ED, a team of community and hospital specialist older persons nurses support these patient in their own homes so they don’t need to be admitted into hospital.

These nurses also provide post-operative care at home so that older patients can return home sooner.

They set individual rehabilitation goals with patients and work intensively with them and their family in their own homes to achieve those goals – sometimes up to four times a day, seven days a week.

Besides the obvious benefits for the clients, hospital wards have been reporting reduced length of stay, thanks to a seamless discharge process where people do not have to wait for services to have a space available.

Community based dementia services

Care provided in the community is key to the future delivery of health services.

In Budget 2012 we have invested an additional $10 million over four years for community based dementia services. This follows Budget 2011 which delivered an extra $44 million over four years to look after people living with dementia.

Caring for more and more people with dementia will be one of the major challenges for any government in ten years’ time. That's why the National Government is investing so significantly in dementia services now.

Dementia is a severe and devastating disorder for both sufferers and their families and as the numbers of New Zealanders living longer increase, the number of people with dementia will also grow.

District Health Boards are also expanding and improving their local services for older people, including those with dementia.

They are developing integrated dementia care resources so people with dementia and their families know what services are available to assist them in their particular stage of dementia. The resources will also assist GPs to know what service is best for a patient to be referred to.

Conclusion

The Government will continue to actively adapt its investment priorities to respond to the challenges of an aging population and this will help to ensure that high quality residential care services, such as those provided here at Malyon House, are available for older New Zealanders into the future.

In closing I would like to acknowledge the very positive contribution your staff and management are making to the care of our older citizens.

With the opening of this facility today you are offering the people of Mount Maunganui a facility that provides high quality care in a very modern environment. I look forward to a tour of the new hospital extension.

I want to thank you for this opportunity to speak to you today and to share this occasion with you.

It now gives me great pleasure to unveil the plaque commemorating the redevelopment of Malyon House.

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