Originally published as a column in The Southland Times

Southern people caring for family members who have health conditions, disabilities, or need palliative support,have been severely impacted by Covid-19.

Not just in Southland, but across the country, this is a significant group with at least a million New Zealanders providing care for someone in their family and for many it is a seven day a week role.

Despite their work having an estimated annual economic value of at least $10 million, these carers work quietly behind the scenes. They support and care for family members, are unpaid and often have limited opportunities for time off.

However, since Covid many of the opportunities to take a break have all but disappeared, with workforce shortages and the restrictions of Omicron severely impacting them.

As National’s Disability spokesperson I’ve been working hard to achieve improvements for carers and to get a commitment from Government on the provision for extra support.

Respite care payments are a major stumbling block. They are capped at $80 a day, after a disappointing $5 increase from Government last year. They fall well below the minimum wage and make it virtually impossible for carers to attract people to these roles, unless they top up the funding themselves.   

In November I asked Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni about these limited payments and whether there could be increases.

Despite being the Minister for Disablity Issues, Ms Sepuloni was unable to address my questions because she said she did not have “any responsibility for the funding for respite care.” She instead directed my questions to the Minister of Health.

However, when I asked Andrew Little he said he was “not familiar with the arrangements for respite care.” 

This lack of understanding from both Minister’s is quite alarming and is an affront to the many committed and selfless people across Southland, and the rest of the country, who provide this care and support.

It also makes a mockery of the stress that many families are under and only serves to undermine any hope those with sick, or disabled dependents might have that this Government is ready to address their concerns.

Significantly a recent survey by Carers NZ, which included responses from 650 people, found that Covid and Omicron had made it even harder for family carers to have breaks from their role.

A huge 90 percent of respondents said that they had less, or much less, respite from caring since before the pandemic.

Reasons included disrupted respite services, worker shortages, and doing more directly for friends and family to reduce the risk of virus exposure from workers coming into their homes.

There were also many comments from carers who said access to less respite had affected their wellbeing.

These are sobering revelations and make me question how long these family members can sustain this relentless support work before they become sick themselves.

It also sends a clear signal to Government that more help is needed for the carers in our community – we cannot ignore their plight because we simply cannot do without them.