Alexander Marc: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Alexander Marc: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:19046] 
10.  
MARC ALEXANDER (United Future) 
 to the  
Associate Minister of Health 
: Have aged residential care facilities received their 3 percent increase as announced in December last year? 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Associate Minister of Health) 
: 
 I am told that most district health boards have advised providers that they will receive their increase backdated to 1 July 2004 shortly. 
Marc Alexander 
: Does the Minister consider an 8-month delay and bovver-boy tactics of district health boards before aged residential care facilities receive the 3 percent increase to be acceptable given the crippled state of the sector; if so why? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: My understanding is that the increase was announced in December which is somewhat less than 8 months ago. 
Steve Chadwick 
: What steps has the Government taken to assist in the provision of home support care to older people? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Home support expenditure has almost doubled in the last 6 years from around $93 million to around $170 million. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: What comfort does the promise of a 3 percent increase offer those such as Roskill Masonic Village the Methodist Mission the Salvation Army Presbyterian Support New Zealand and a litany of other providers who have essentially already been forced out of the sector by what they consider is a 20 percent funding shortfall due to 5 years of serious neglect by a Labour Government unwilling to listen or act? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I do not think the facts match with the invective. The truth of the matter is that a number of providers sell out as going concerns. In some parts of the country there is oversupply so it makes sense for that to be reduced. We have increased expenditure to this sector a lot in our time in office and we are contemplating increasing it even more. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Does the Minister agree that there must be pay parity between the caregivers in the aged-care sector who currently receive $10.80 an hour before tax and health-care assistants who work in hospitals who now receive $16.50 an hour due to the nurses’ pay settlement; if not how can keeping those workers on poverty wages be justified? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The amount of money that is paid by an employer for say a home-care provider is for the employer to determine. However if someone is paid $10.80 per hour as the member quotes it is worth noting that the amount of money that leaves Wellington per hour per homeworker is a good deal more than that. 
Marc Alexander 
: Does the Minister agree with the chief executive of Presbyterian Support Otago Gillian Bremner who said the aged-care residential sector needs $200 million; if so is the $18 million increase not missing a zero somewhere? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I am in close contact with Gillian Bremner and she refers to the entire aged-care sector not to residential care alone. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: I seek leave to table an answer to a written question which states that 37 homes have shut down in the last 2½ years. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table those documents. Is there any objection? There is. 
Marc Alexander 
: How can a 3 percent increase help deliver pay parity for nurses working in aged residential care facilities and where is the Government’s commitment to equal pay for equal work for nurses working in aged residential care facilities or is this just another example of the Government’s priority? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I just happen to know that some providers have already increased nurses’ wages in the residential care sector and that others anticipate a claim. Obviously contracts fall due for negotiation in that sector at different times. 
Marc Alexander 
: I seek leave to table a report citing Presbyterian Support Otago chief executive Gillian Bremner who said that the $18 million boost still feels like crumbs. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.