Acknowledging International Day of Older People on 1 October, Health Minister Tony Ryall says older New Zealanders are generally fitter, healthier and more active than their forebears.

"Recent research says older people can look forward to even fewer years of ill-health, much later in life and possibly for a shorter period."

"That is evident in the significant contribution older New Zealanders are making to society for longer and later in life."

"But for many people a longer lifespan will increase the number of years they live with a disability or chronic disease, and that increases health spending over their lifetime."

By 2026, almost a million New Zealanders will be over 65 years of age. That's more than double the current number of people - while the number of New Zealanders over 85 years will increase from nearly 50,000 to more than 125,000.

"This government is fixing the health system by planning and providing for greater numbers of older New Zealanders now and in the future," Mr Ryall says.

"We have increased elective surgery - last financial year, a record 138,442 New Zealanders came off waiting lists to have elective operations like hip and knee operations, cataracts and cardiac surgery."

"After a damning Auditor General's report of rest home auditing under the previous government, we have introduced spot auditing of rest homes, auditing the auditors and publishing audit reports so that older New Zealanders and their families can make informed choices.

"We are funding an extra $18 million per year to improve the quality of supervision and nursing in aged residential care facilities to help them support and retain nursing staff.

"Family members caring for older New Zealanders at home can get more of a break now the government has funded an additional $5 million a year for respite beds. We are also boosting funding for hospices by $60 million over four years.

"The government has given Age Concern an extra $200,000 to expand their Accredited Visiting Service into all district health boards - this valuable service aims to improve the health of older people living in the community by reducing social isolation and loneliness."

Having good social networks has been identified by older people themselves as one of the "Big 4" most serious issues facing them.

Mr Ryall says that District Health Boards are spending more on home support for older people assessed as needing it, and they're planning to spend more again next year. This year around 75,000 people have received home support - around 15, 000 of them came on, and around 15,000 stopped receiving it.

"The government also commissioned groundbreaking research into the future rest home health needs of older New Zealanders - the Aged Residential Care Service Review results launched earlier this month will greatly help our future decision making."