❓ The Minister addresses concerns about older Western Australians stuck in hospitals due to aged care shortages, highlighting state initiatives and urging federal action for fair funding and increased home care/residential places.
AnsweredQoN 296Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Health—Aged care
296. Ms Colleen Egan to
the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's commitment to delivering innovative discharge pathways for
older Western Australians in need of aged care.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how
these efforts are taking pressure off our hospitals and getting older Western
Australians the support that they need?
(2) Can the minister explain how this government
is stepping up when it comes to aged care and calling for Western Australia to
get its fair share?
296. Ms Colleen Egan to
the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's commitment to delivering innovative discharge pathways for
older Western Australians in need of aged care.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how
these efforts are taking pressure off our hospitals and getting older Western
Australians the support that they need?
(2) Can the minister explain how this government
is stepping up when it comes to aged care and calling for Western Australia to
get its fair share?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) Last Wednesday, there were 255 older
Western Australians in our hospitals who did not need to be there. We know the
challenges that that puts on our existing hospitals and the people who care for
hospital patients. Importantly, this is also not good for those older Western
Australians who need to be in a more appropriate care setting, whether that is
at home with proper home care supports, usually home-care packages, which at
the moment, are not available or, if that is not available, they would be moved
to some sort of residential aged-care facility. We know that that is not
available for two reasons. Firstly, our facilities are full; there are not
enough beds. Secondly, Western Australia is getting under its share of both of
those categories—home-care packages and residential care packages. It
is bad for our hospital system. It is 255 beds that
could be better utilised. But importantly, it is not good for those older
patients or their families. We have articulated very clearly that the aged-care
system is the responsibility of the federal government, which regulates and
funds it. We want to make sure that Western Australia is getting its share of
that. At the moment, by any metric, we are not. By population metric, it is a
third of the state. We have a big geographical expanse to cover. But
importantly, the human face of that is somewhere between 8,000 and 9,000 older Western
Australians and their families waiting for home-care packages at the moment. There
is a big backlog and the federal government needs to address that backlog and
it needs to address the demand for residential aged care in our state.
We are very clear about that.
The Premier has made it known that himself, the Minister for Health and I will
go to Canberra to press that point to our Canberra colleagues. We are not just
sitting back and waiting for the federal government to do something. Over the
last couple of years—I want to acknowledge the previous health minister
who took this initiative—we have looked at various ways we can take
pressure off our hospital systems, but give families and older Western
Australians time to think about what the next steps might be. There are three
ways that can occur. There is Time to Think, which I will talk about; there is
respite care; and there is also transitional care. We are buying those beds. We
are making sure that there are dedicated beds available in appropriate care
settings. In fact, I was in Margaret River, after the state budget, talking to
a range of different stakeholders in Capecare, which is a residential care home
facility in Busselton. They came to see me and said the transitional beds are
working very well. They have people who are coming out of hospitals but are taking
a residential care bed and they are happier because they are in a more
appropriate setting. Similarly, Time to Think is a funded bed that is available
for older Western Australians and their families while they think about what
the next steps are. We have supported the discharge of more than 91 older
adults since the initiative of Time to Think beds in May. We are funding that
system for $9.9 million and, in fact, it has freed up 11,077 hospital bed days
since its initiation in May. These are real figures. As I said, they are
important beds that we need to free up. But these are families, these are older
Western Australians who need to be in a more appropriate care setting.
In the time that I have been
going out to aged-care facilities, I have met some of those people. As I said,
at Capecare I met those providers in Margaret River who are providing in
Busselton. When I have been going out to aged-care settings, I have met some of
those people who are taking the time to think about what the steps might be. We
will not be able to do that alone. We are leaning in heavily as the state
government. In fact, some of this work is nation leading and we are ahead of
other states in getting people into some sort of transitional care, or Time to Think
or respite care while they and their families think about the next steps. That
is not all of the picture. The federal government needs to step up. To the
federal government, we are saying very clearly that we need them to step up and
play their part for the good of older Western Australians in our community.
Western Australians in our hospitals who did not need to be there. We know the
challenges that that puts on our existing hospitals and the people who care for
hospital patients. Importantly, this is also not good for those older Western
Australians who need to be in a more appropriate care setting, whether that is
at home with proper home care supports, usually home-care packages, which at
the moment, are not available or, if that is not available, they would be moved
to some sort of residential aged-care facility. We know that that is not
available for two reasons. Firstly, our facilities are full; there are not
enough beds. Secondly, Western Australia is getting under its share of both of
those categories—home-care packages and residential care packages. It
is bad for our hospital system. It is 255 beds that
could be better utilised. But importantly, it is not good for those older
patients or their families. We have articulated very clearly that the aged-care
system is the responsibility of the federal government, which regulates and
funds it. We want to make sure that Western Australia is getting its share of
that. At the moment, by any metric, we are not. By population metric, it is a
third of the state. We have a big geographical expanse to cover. But
importantly, the human face of that is somewhere between 8,000 and 9,000 older Western
Australians and their families waiting for home-care packages at the moment. There
is a big backlog and the federal government needs to address that backlog and
it needs to address the demand for residential aged care in our state.
We are very clear about that.
The Premier has made it known that himself, the Minister for Health and I will
go to Canberra to press that point to our Canberra colleagues. We are not just
sitting back and waiting for the federal government to do something. Over the
last couple of years—I want to acknowledge the previous health minister
who took this initiative—we have looked at various ways we can take
pressure off our hospital systems, but give families and older Western
Australians time to think about what the next steps might be. There are three
ways that can occur. There is Time to Think, which I will talk about; there is
respite care; and there is also transitional care. We are buying those beds. We
are making sure that there are dedicated beds available in appropriate care
settings. In fact, I was in Margaret River, after the state budget, talking to
a range of different stakeholders in Capecare, which is a residential care home
facility in Busselton. They came to see me and said the transitional beds are
working very well. They have people who are coming out of hospitals but are taking
a residential care bed and they are happier because they are in a more
appropriate setting. Similarly, Time to Think is a funded bed that is available
for older Western Australians and their families while they think about what
the next steps are. We have supported the discharge of more than 91 older
adults since the initiative of Time to Think beds in May. We are funding that
system for $9.9 million and, in fact, it has freed up 11,077 hospital bed days
since its initiation in May. These are real figures. As I said, they are
important beds that we need to free up. But these are families, these are older
Western Australians who need to be in a more appropriate care setting.
In the time that I have been
going out to aged-care facilities, I have met some of those people. As I said,
at Capecare I met those providers in Margaret River who are providing in
Busselton. When I have been going out to aged-care settings, I have met some of
those people who are taking the time to think about what the steps might be. We
will not be able to do that alone. We are leaning in heavily as the state
government. In fact, some of this work is nation leading and we are ahead of
other states in getting people into some sort of transitional care, or Time to Think
or respite care while they and their families think about the next steps. That
is not all of the picture. The federal government needs to step up. To the
federal government, we are saying very clearly that we need them to step up and
play their part for the good of older Western Australians in our community.
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