Underfunding, chronic understaffing and system-wide failures have left the aged residential care (ARC) sector unable to provide culturally and clinically safe care for kaumātua. The sector is characterised by shortfalls in essential clinical and personal care, neglect and preventable harm to residents resulting from time and budget constraints, and the overall erosion of residents’ dignity and mana. Workers described the toll of working in a broken system where they are set up to fail. 

Our vision demands a culturally and clinically safe aged residential care system. Building on the care minutes model from Australia and the case-mix model developed in Aotearoa, we are calling for a care minutes framework that builds a safe staffing system around the needs of residents. This model unites comprehensive assessment of residents’ clinical and hauora needs with the funding and staffing commitments to meet them.