Minister for Seniors Casey Costello said there were difficult decisions to make. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Minister for Seniors Casey Costello insists the government is not considering any spending cuts for aged care, but continues to explore "all options" to deal with a projected explosion in demand.
Health New Zealand has calculated the country will be short 12,000 residential care beds within eight years, on current trends.
Costello - who is also the Associate Health Minister - told Nine to Noon that "the right number of beds" would ultimately depend on which solutions were developed.
"That's why we're having a review, because older people need choices that best suit their needs."
What is the government's plan for Aged Care?
The situation in the East Coast town of Wairoa - which has had no aged care beds since Cyclone Gabrielle destroyed its last rest home - was "a tragedy" for that community, she said.
Fifty whānau were now caring for frail relatives at home.
However, Costello declined to be drawn on whether the government would be stepping in to support the provider, saying it was not just a matter of the building, but also the workforce.
"We've got to be realistic."
There were difficult decisions to make, but the government was determined to improve care and support people to "age in place", or to stay in their own communities as long as possible, she said.
Aged Care Association Chief Executive Tracey Martin has previously told Nine To Noon that Wairoa was just one of many communities at risk of losing their aged care facilities.
She said the government was planning to make it harder to get into residential care, while at the same time removing some of the home and community supports to cut costs.
RNZ has seen internal Te Whatu Ora documents detailing options to raise the "fragility level" for entry into aged care, and to remove some levels of in-home support, such as housework, meal preparation and shopping for people with mobility problems or recovering from illness.
However, Costello said nothing had been presented to her, as it was "still in the review stage".
"The commentary that's come out just isn't accurate... there is no decision been made, there is no suggestion that we want to pull back from funding."
Costello said one option under consideration was to contract the residential care sector to supply "recovery beds" for people who would often be stuck in hospital after an accident or illness because there was nowhere for them to go.
"Hospital is often not the right place for them, it's an acute care facility ad it can't provide a rehabilitative process.
"We want them to have options for care outside hospital."
RNZ understands Health Minister Shane Reti has directed Health NZ to "free up" 200,000 bed nights a year.