# Source Brief: RNZCGP Submission to Aged Care Ministerial Advisory Group

**Source:** Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP)
**Date:** 27 March 2026
**URL (PDF):** https://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/documents/746/2026.03.27_-_Aged_Care_Ministerial_Advisory_Group.pdf
**Date accessed:** 9 June 2026
**Relevance:** 🟠 High — Professional clinical input from NZ's primary care sector

---

## About the College

- Represents **6,018 Specialist GPs** — 40% of New Zealand's medical workforce
- Submission grounded in **Te Tiriti o Waitangi** and Māori health equity

---

## Key Statistics

| Metric                                                        | Figure                             |
| ------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Patients over 65 enrolled in general practice (2025)          | 875,000                            |
| Average GP visits/year per older person                       | 5.6                                |
| Older patients who visited GP at least once (2024/25)         | 76.2%                              |
| Annual patient contacts across 1,085 GP teams                 | 24 million                         |
| Proportion of all healthcare concerns managed in primary care | 90%                                |
| Māori aged 65+ (approx)                                       | 68,000–75,000 (7.4% of Māori pop.) |

> Informal care value (LiLACS NZ): **$3.6 billion** for 220,000 citizens aged 80+

---

## Summary of Key Recommendations

### Right Care, Right Place, Right Time

- Formalise **shared-care arrangements** between ARC, general practice, and locality networks
- Develop **local hubs** for integrated service delivery
- **Strengthen clinical governance and safe staffing** in ARC (consistent RN coverage, gerontology/dementia/palliative capability)
- Include **Māori partnership** in shared-care and locality pathways
- **Standardise transitions** between hospital, ARC, and home
- Use **telehealth** to improve rural access
- Reference: Australia's 24/7 RN coverage model

### Ageing Well at Home

- Invest in **proactive, preventive primary care**: routine frailty assessment, anticipatory care planning
- **KARE project** showed: additional gerontology nursing + integrated IT platform reduced care home placement, fewer ED visits
- Improve access to **community allied health** (falls prevention, mobility, nutrition, OT assessments)
- **Medicines optimisation** — routine medication reviews to reduce polypharmacy harm
- **Falls prevention** — systematic training, protein/dairy intake (reduced fractures by 33%), Vit D supplementation

### Financial Sustainability

- **Stable, indexed funding** that keeps pace with wages, acuity, and inflation
- Invest in **safe staffing, clinical governance, medicines optimisation**
- **Capacity planning** for appropriate mix of beds and community options
- **Modest investment in carer support** and flexible community care
- ARC funding model (currently 3 levels) should be revised to **recognise complexity and rehabilitation needs**

### Funding Settings

- **Needs-based case-mix model** for ARC and community packages
- **Index funding** to wages and inflation
- **Link portion of funding to quality and safety indicators**
- **Fund integration functions**: care coordination, discharge planning, medicines reconciliation
- **Equity lens**: acknowledge Māori health need and unmet need

### Regulatory/Contractual Changes

- **Clarify minimum safe standards**: RN coverage, clinical governance, escalation pathways
- **Outcomes-focused contracts** (e.g., reduced avoidable hospital transfers)
- **Reduce administrative burden**: standardise reporting across regions
- **Enable innovation** without compromising safety

---

## KB Cross-References

- `02_Aged_Residential_Care/2025 - Health Committee - Source Brief - Aged Care Inquiry 14 Recommendations.md`
- `05_Funding_and_Subsidies/`
- `16 Political & Campaign Intelligence/10_Party_Position_Matrices/2026 Party Position Matrix - Health Dementia and Disability.md`