Mental Health Minister and Associate Health Minister with responsibility for rural health Matt Doocey acknowledged the issues raised about dementia care.
"This is an issue close to my heart, having recently gone through the process with a family member."
Mr Doocey said he visited Wānaka last year for the Rural Health Roadshow, and believed it was a good opportunity to see and hear first-hand from those on the ground about how well the Rural Health Strategy was being implemented.
"The key part of that strategy is looking at how we can bring services closer to home.
"I acknowledge there has been a high growth of population in the Wānaka region, and as the minister responsible for rural health I am focused on looking at what more we can do to ensure people aren’t travelling too far for care and bringing support closer to home.
"I am informed that Health New Zealand are actively working to minimise the need for out-of-district placements and are actively progressing planning to increase dementia-level care capacity."
He said dementia care fell under the responsibility of Seniors Minister and Associate Health Minister Casey Costello, and he would work with her to ensure all points were appropriately covered in the response.
However, it would take time.
Mr Doocey’s response came after the Wānaka man, who declined to be named, wrote a letter to the minister about his wife’s advancing dementia and her increasing need for one-on-one attention, 24 hours a day.
He said his wife had limited capacity for verbal communication and frequently wandered off, which meant he had to keep one eye on her at all times while cooking meals, carrying out basic tasks, and making sure she was looked after.
"Her behaviour, her condition, has also produced uncomfortable responses at times — responses that are very uncharacteristic for her as a normal person.
"Nevertheless, that’s just one aspect of her situation, which makes things clear that a point is very, very close where she needs to be in care."
While Wānaka has a dementia-level care facility, he said it was full and had a long waiting list.
The next nearest facility was in Cromwell, but it too had a long waiting list.
At this stage, he said he might have to move his wife to Dunedin or Oamaru, where there was space available.
"I’ll be faced with [my wife] being out of my hometown and out of the hometown of her friends, which makes it very difficult for maintaining contacts with the outside world, so far as she’s concerned.
"I can’t put myself in her place except to say that clearly that’s the most unsatisfactory thing for someone to be housed and homed in a situation that’s far removed from all her social supports.
"The issue that I am personally confronted with now has unquestionably arisen through a desperate shortfall of funding and resources for this care provision, right throughout the southern region."
The husband was heartbroken and extremely worried about their future.
"I’m worried for her sake and myself — so far as providing us with a care environment that is manageable and safe for each of us."
His situation is not an isolated one.
The Queenstown Lakes district is estimated to have about 500 people living with dementia at present, and based on projections, it is estimated about 630 people will be living with dementia in the area by 2050.
