Hon Casey Costello
Associate Minister of Health

New funding will give older people greater access to aged residential care and longer care outside of hospitals, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today.

“We want to ensure older New Zealanders can get the treatment and care they need in the best possible place. They should not be in hospital simply because they are frail and there are limited options for their care,” Ms Costello says.

“This investment of $24 million over four years will help people, who don’t need continued hospital treatment, to move to other care places in the community, including aged residential care.”

This timely care transfer initiative was developed with the aged care sector in 2023 but had time-limited funding that ends next month.

“This investment means current delays in discharging older people from hospital will be reduced and hospital beds will be freed up for those requiring treatment,” Ms Costello says. “It will benefit anyone needing to access hospital and specialist services.

“The new funding will enable better rehabilitation and recovery in the community – for example, providing support for older people with exceptional needs, such as bariatric care, and the extra care required for new residents with complex needs,” Ms Costello says.

“I’ve seen first-hand how Aged Care residences can provide this level of recuperative care. They are currently funded to provide these ‘hospital’ rooms, and this extra funding will support access to this care and for the transfer process to occur safely and faster.

“We are working on large-scale and long-term improvements to the aged care system, but this initiative delivers some immediate support and helps us achieve national health targets.”

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