‘Pillows, happy hour’: Shocking items aged care charged for

Residents of aged care homes are being slapped with additional service fees for surprising items, according to a new report. See what they are being charged.

Some aged care homes are slapping residents with additional service fees for things like having a bed, a pillow, or meals made on-site.

People were also being forced to pay for items that they could never benefit from like happy hour drinks even though they never consumed alcohol, and a lolly trolley that someone with diabetes could not enjoy, according to the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) annual report.

Complaints to the advocacy group were up 20 per cent to 44,000 in the last financial year, the report revealed.

“If someone is bedridden they can’t use the gym,” OPAN CEO Craig Gear said. “They should not have to pay for it.”

OPAN's CEO Craig Gear

Mr Gear said some residents were being told by their provider that agreeing to these additional services was a condition of entry to the home.

OPAN found some older people were paying more than $31 per day for “additional services”, leaving some with huge debts, or struggling to pay for personal care items or medications.

And, it also noticed that the scope of what is an additional charge was expanding, with some providers including things like a bed, a pillow and meals cooked on-site as an extra fee, rather than being included in the basic package.

“It’s disappointing that we are seeing the challenges with fees and charges continuing,” he said.

“There is a lot of confusion about what people are going to be charged, particularly in aged care.”

Analysis of the 44,000 complaints and requests for help showed most were around poor communication and lack of information from providers, topping the list for a second year in a row. Issues around fees and charges also dominated.

Nearly half of advocacy cases were around Home Care Packages (HCP), where people get help in their own home, followed by residential aged care which made up a quarter of the cases. Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) made up 14 per cent of cases. Flexible care accounted for three per cent.

Older people who were yet to access aged care accounted for seven per cent of advocacy cases.

There were 623 people who required advocacy over elder abuse, not related to aged care workers.

There were also more than 6000 issues relating to aged care providers refusing to offer places to people with complex care and support needs, such as cognitive impairments including dementia.

Val Fell, 95, from Wollongong. Val is on the Aged Care Council of Elders. She also has concerns about the shortage of beds, especially for dementia patients.

Earlier this year, Val Fell, 95, was admitted to hospital for septicaemia and was put on a geriatric ward with a high number of people with dementia, most on waiting lists to access an aged care home.

She said she had one man try to get into her bed, while on two further occasions she woke to find a woman sitting at the end of her bed and another time a woman going through her bag. Her phone also went missing briefly.

“They were in there because there are no beds in residential care homes,” Ms Fell said.

OPAN’s report included 47 recommendations, 23 continue from the 2022-23 report with an additional 24 recommendations based on this year’s analysis.

Do you have an aged care story? Email [e-mail].

For help call the Aged Care Advocacy Line on 1800 700 600 or visit opan.org.au.