Source: Aged Care Association
The Aged Care Association is urging the Government to strengthen direct communication pathways between Ministers and essential service sectors as part of future pandemic preparedness planning.
Chief Executive Tracey Martin says the call is grounded in her unique experience serving on both sides of the system – as a senior decision-maker during the pandemic and now as the national representative for aged residential care providers.
“At the onset of COVID-19, I served as a dedicated COVID Minister and as Minister for Seniors. In that role, I participated in all Cabinet and COVID Minister briefings led by the Ministry of Health and was directly involved in Government oversight of the national pandemic response,” Ms Martin said.
“My responsibility was to advocate for older New Zealanders and the services supporting them at the highest levels of decision-making during an unprecedented crisis.”
Now, as Chief Executive of the Aged Care Association, Ms Martin says she has gained a different perspective from providers who were delivering frontline care under extraordinary pressure.
“In my current role, I have come to better understand how some operational decisions taken during the response were experienced by the sector. In several cases, actions implemented at an agency level were widely believed by providers to be deliberate Cabinet decisions.”
She says this created confusion about where decisions were made and who was accountable.
“One example raised with us was the withdrawal of sector-held personal protective equipment supplies, which were replaced with products that providers considered to be of lower quality. Those affected believed this was a direct Government directive, when in practice operational implementation decisions sit at different levels within the system.”
Ms Martin emphasised that the issue is not about revisiting past decisions, but about learning practical governance lessons for the future.
“What this experience highlights is the need for structured, two-way communication channels between essential sector groups and responsible pandemic Ministers. When communication flows only through large agencies, there is a risk that operational realities and sector impacts are not always conveyed with full context – either up to Ministers or back down to those delivering frontline services.”
The Association is recommending that future pandemic planning frameworks include:
- Formal mechanisms enabling essential sector representatives to communicate directly with designated pandemic Ministers
- Clearer distinction between Cabinet-level decisions and agency operational implementation
- Transparent communication pathways to ensure information provided to Ministers and guidance issued to sectors is consistent and accurate
“Aged care providers are a critical part of New Zealand’s health system and care for some of our most vulnerable citizens,” Ms Martin said.
“In a crisis, clarity of communication is as important as clarity of policy. Stronger direct connections between decision-makers and essential sectors will improve trust, decision quality and system performance when New Zealand needs it most.”
