The bureaucratic nightmare in finding an aged care placement for my dad

Too many frail elderly Aussies like my dad are forced to take up a hospital bed while they wait for aged care, writes Sue Dunlevy. And some are still waiting after six months.

Once a highly independent academic, my 88-year-old father’s health and mobility was deteriorating, he’d stopped driving and rarely left his home.

We’d organised a gardener and were supplying him with meals but it all came undone when late last year he spontaneously fractured his spine without even suffering a fall.

Dad’s mind was sound but his body was failing him.

A trip to hospital saw him diagnosed with multiple serious medical conditions and we faced the agonising decision of moving him into aged care for around the clock care.

Reporter Sue Dunlevy, with her dad Maurice, 88.

Despite my background in health and social policy, I was unprepared for the bureaucratic hurdles we encountered.

A call to MyAgedCare resulted in dad being offered two hours per week of “urgent care” in his own home which would have meant he would be assisted to the toilet and showered just once per week.

At this stage he was incapable of getting out of bed at all.

He ended up spending four months in hospital while we waited for a quality aged care bed to become available.

Visiting a range of homes in search of a bed was a heart breaking endeavour until we found two quality providers but neither had a vacancy.

We engaged an excellent aged care placement agent to help find a nursing home bed and deal with the mountains of paperwork.

Despite this we faced a four to six week wait for the aged care assessment dad needed before a nursing home would even consider his application.

He had to undergo an income assessment via Centrelink to work out the income tested care fee he had to pay on entering a home but this agency was so overwhelmed for over a month we couldn’t even get in the phone queue to speak to a bureaucrat.

NSW Health says as of 29 May 2024, there are 445 patients in public hospitals waiting for an aged care placement.

Services Australia General Manager, Hank Jongen said the agency was receiving one million calls per week and the government had invested in 3000 additional staff to take calls.

“With these staff we’re processing more claims and have reduced those outstanding by over 700,000, average call wait times have fallen from around 32 minutes to 24-26 minutes,” Mr Jongen said.

In 2022-2023 half of elderly people waited more than 135 days between receiving an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) approval and entering nursing home, the Productivity Commission reports.

Many of these frail elderly people, like my dad, end up taking up a hospital bed while they wait.

Sue Dunlevy’s Dad found a place in a quality aged care home but the cost is a confronting $336 per day.

NSW Health said as of 29 May 2024, there were 445 patients in NSW public hospitals who were waiting for an aged care placement and together with NDIS patients in a similar position it was costing the state $40 million a year.

Minister for Health Ryan Park said residents who require an aged care bed “deserve better than this”.

“The wait for an aged care bed is having significant impact on our hospital system, and in turn it’s depriving patients from receiving the care they need,” he said.

Thanks to the agent we hired my father is now very happy in a quality aged care home but the cost is a confronting $336 per day.

Dad was lucky and he had the help of insider knowledge of the system, he shared hospital wards with others who were still waiting for a nursing home bed after six months.

Originally published as The bureaucratic nightmare in finding an aged care placement for my dad