industry & reform
So while we’ve got that many people
waiting, we know that people aren’t
getting the support that they need. They
go into hospital or they go into residential
aged care before they need to. And that’s
something that we need to see addressed.
Conversely, there is an increase of
15,000 people since 31 December 2018,
and there’s a quarterly increase of over
2500 since September 2018, so it’s
going in the right direction.
Waiting game
Peak bodies say home
care package wait list is
not good enough.
Pat Sparrow interviewed by Conor Burke
H
ome care package (HCP) numbers
released by the government show
129,000 are still waiting for help, up
1290 from the last report.
However, the report shows placements
are trending in the right direction. As of
December 2018, there were 93,331 people
in a HCP, which represents an annual
increase of 15,413.
There has also been an increase in
providers offering HCPs. As of March this
year, there were 917 approved home care
providers, an increase of 15 providers
since December 2018.
The data shows that HCPs are currently
released at a rate of 2400 per week, but for
some, this is still too slow.
Sean Rooney, the chief executive of
Leading Age Services Australia, is one of
those people.
“LASA’s data suggests that even those on
interim packages often pass away or enter
18 agedcareinsite.com.au
hospital or residential care before receiving
the package that they were assessed to
need,” Rooney says.
“While the government has made a
noteworthy commitment to release more
home care packages, the number of
packages being made available to older
Australians is still inadequate.”
Another person who thinks the rate of
release is too slow is Pat Sparrow, chief
executive of Aged & Community Services
Australia. She is not surprised that numbers
have risen and wants urgent action to
be taken.
“The royal commission can’t be used as
an excuse to delay – people need better
support right now,” she says.
Aged Care Insite spoke with Sparrow
about the new data.
ACI: There is now a wait list of over
129,000 people for home care
packages – up over 1000 since the last
report. With renewed scrutiny in the
aged care space, and promises to act,
how are we at this point?
PS: One of the issues we have is – and the
government has been putting in additional
packages – but the number of people
who are waiting is still growing. So there is
increased scrutiny.
And I think the royal commission was
really highlighting this – they had a home
care hearing for a week, and at the end
of it their summing up was that it’s not
satisfactory. And that is our summing up
as well.
It’s good that there are some people who
are getting the level of packages, but the
numbers still show that the majority of
people either can’t get a package at all, or
are getting a package that’s not at the level
that they’re assessed as, and they’re getting
lower level services.
And often those lower level packages
are being topped up through the
Commonwealth Home Support Program
(CHSP), which actually creates an issue at
the other end of the system, when people
are trying to come in and get some basic
supports. That makes it harder for people
to come in at that level because they’re
topping up packages.
We’re also seeing stats from the
government that there is an increase of,
I think, 15 providers offering home care
packages since the last count. Is that a
good thing?
It’s a good thing if the providers are good
and they go through a process that the
department signs off on about whether
they can be an approved provider or not.
What we absolutely have to make sure,
and it is a government role that that is
how it’s done, is that the organisations
that are providing home care meet all
of the same requirements, and are fit
and proper people to run services. And
that’s something that the department
determines, and we need them to do that
job really well.
Now it’s right and proper that we keep
on government about this, but looking
at the numbers, over 100,000 people
waiting, is it going to be a case that
there’s always going to people waiting,
or how do we fix this?
I think there will always be some people
waiting, but I think what’s unacceptable
is the number and the length of time. So
many people are waiting for a year or two
years before they’re getting a package. It’s
a complex issue, and there are a range of
things that we need to look at right through