Editorial: Fix our appalling aged-care system

The more than 3700 older Australians stranded in hospital beds due to the disgraceful state of our aged-care system deserve a place to call home, writes the editor.

The more than 3700 older Australians stranded in hospital beds due to the disgraceful state of our aged-care system deserve a place to call home.

Yesterday, the first step towards achieving that goal took place when state and territory leaders held emergency crisis talks to demand the federal government take action and increase funding for aged-care placements to free up hospital beds.

The meeting – held just days after the launch of The Courier-Mail’s Sick of Waiting campaign – will hopefully mark the beginning of a concerted national effort to fix our aged-care system, which has been nothing short of shambolic in this country for a long time.

But this drive from our state and territory leaders to finally force the federal government’s hand can’t be a talk fest. It has to result in meaningful action.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese must listen – and not dismiss it as a money grab or attempt to pass the buck to the federal government.

This is about people.

We have already highlighted the heartbreaking plights of some, such as Eric Stewart and his wife Gayle.

Eric’s dementia deteriorated rapidly in February, before he was admitted to the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

He was well enough to leave a few months later, but it’s been 270 days and Gayle still hasn’t been able to get him into an aged-care facility.

It hasn’t been for lack of trying. Gayle has contacted 40 homes, visited 26 and a further 30 have been contacted on the Stewarts’ behalf.

In the meantime, many Queenslanders can’t get a hospital bed.

That’s not the Stewarts’ fault – there’s been a catastrophic failure over successive federal governments to sort out our aged-care system, which means people are languishing in public hospitals for up to a year, despite being medically fit for discharge.

It now falls on Mr Albanese to fix it, whether he likes it or not.

National aged-care occupancy is now at 94.4 per cent, and full capacity is expected to be reached within three years – before the next federal election is due.

And there is an 18,000-bed annual shortfall forecast by 2030.

In Queensland, patients being stranded in hospitals already cost taxpayers $912m a year.

The Grattan Institute this week revealed Australians could save more than $1bn and gain an extra 160,000 hospital visits each year if all governments fix the broken funding model.

Currently, there are more than 1100 patients fit for discharge who are languishing in Queensland hospitals because they have nowhere else to go.

It’s heartbreaking for them and their families and it simply should not be happening.

The federal government says it doesn’t want Australians spending longer in hospital than necessary, so it needs to find a solution.

State and territory leaders are asking for more money, but it is hard not to see their point as they struggle with hospitals bursting at the seams with patients parked in corridors waiting for beds.

The time has come for our state and federal leaders to put politics aside and deliver a real solution before this problem spirals even further out of control.

MALL EXPANSION GAME-CHANGER

The extension of the Queen Street Mall has the potential to revitalise Brisbane’s CBD.

Brisbane City Council has revealed it will extend the pedestrian-only mall to continue along Albert St from Elizabeth St, all the way to Mary St over three stages from next month.

The move will connect the mall with the new Albert St rail station, which is being opened as part of the Cross River Rail project.

It’s being hailed as a lifestyle precinct to rival Howard Smith Wharves, South Bank, West Village in West End and Fish Lane in South Brisbane.

A public plaza will be delivered outside the Albert St station, featuring a tree-lined walkway.

The project is a game-changer that was desperately needed as we look ahead to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The extended mall will form part of what is fast becoming the new and improved spine of Brisbane’s CBD with the Neville Bonner Bridge connecting South Bank to Queen’s Wharf and Mary St, and the Kangaroo Point Bridge connecting Kangaroo Point to the city via the Botanic Gardens.

Throw in plans to redevelop the former Visy site on the river between West End and South Bank, and the footprint of Brisbane’s CBD is rapidly expanding and no longer confined to Queen St.

The expansion of the Queen Street Mall may be long overdue, but it is warmly welcomed.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here