Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Protesters gathered outside Wellington's Tākina convention centre on Wednesday, claiming staff cuts have been proposed in aged residential care facilities around the country.
The protest of about 75 people came as the Retirement Village Association conference was being held inside the facility.
The Aged Care Association said it was only aware of one company, Arvida, that has [
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/525824/retirement-village-residents-feel-unsafe-over-plans-to-reduce-staff-hours proposed to cut staff hours] at a Wellington complex.
Jiff Stewart, spokesperson for the protest group, warned against the issues that would arise from staffing cuts.
"The risk is that there aren't enough people to get you out of bed when you want to, they're not there to take you to the toilet when you want to.
"We think it risks jeopardising safety and quality of care."
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The protesters also called for pay parity for nurses across the whole health care sector.
Aged Care Association chief executive Tracey Martin said it agreed with the protest group on the issues of pay parity but did not agree that any care at facilities was being compromised.
"All of our members have to be audited by health cert and that has to be reported to Te Whatu Ora, so we know that the standard of care is there."
Martin said there were issues relating to insufficient funding for aged care.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Retirement Village Association executive director John Collyns acknowledged the group's concerns and said current government funding for aged care was inadequate.
Associate Health Minister Casey Costello told RNZ the government, through Health NZ, provided more than $2 billion of annual funding for aged care services.
Costello said she understood that negotiations with the aged care sector for 2024/25 were complete and a 3.2 percent funding uplift has been agreed.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
She said Health NZ have advised her that funding was more than it has offered other parts of the health sector because it has prioritised aged care in a constrained financial environment.
The government was reviewing the entire aged care system with a view to making it sustainable, she said.
An Arvida spokesperson said changes to staffing levels have been tested and will be slightly above pre-Covid levels.