A funding boost for dementia is insufficient to deal with a "staggering" wave of cases the aged care sector will face, Otago-Southland Aged Care Association board member Malcolm Hendry says.
Last week's Budget included an extra $44 million over four years for dementia care, which equated to three to four extra dementia beds per year in the South, the Southern District Health Board estimated.
The aged care residential sector as a whole received a 1.7% funding increase.
Mr Hendry said the Government was unprepared for the ageing population and the subsequent increasing incidence of dementia.
He said last September's Grant Thornton Aged Care Review spelt out the problem and the Government had yet to deal with the infrastructural issues it raised.
Increased funding for dementia care was a "good start" but did not address a lack of profitability and incentive for the private sector to invest in new facilities.
The sector had taken a responsible approach to funding demands, and would cope with the 1.7% increase, but it was not enough to keep pace with inflation and some facilities would struggle.
"If the private sector funding does not increase, the pressure will flow through to the public health system and more and more public hospital beds will be dedicated to aged care needs," Mr Hendry said.
By 2026, the over-65 population will increase 84%, from 512,000 to 944,000. During that period, New Zealand's population is predicted to grow 20%, from 4.2 million to 5 million.
By 2026, an extra 12,000 to 20,000 elderly people would require residential care, the Grant Thornton report said.
Grey Power health spokesman, Dick Stark, said the dementia problem needed a co-ordinated approach not possible under the "fragmented" nature of the health system.
