Brawl looms as 1200 NSW hospital beds blocked by aged care, NDIS patients waiting for placements
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park has taken aim his federal counterparts over the backlog by claiming it’s “not acceptable” for hospital beds to be tied up long term.
NSW
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More than 1200 NSW hospital beds are being locked up by patients waiting for placements in aged care or the NDIS, with NSW Health Minister Ryan Park taking aim at his federal counterparts over the backlog by claiming its “not acceptable”.
The latest figures from NSW Health state there are 538 patients in hospital beds – operated by the state – waiting for an NDIS placement, with a total of 24,033 days spent occupying a hospital bed.
There are also 680 patients in hospital beds across the state waiting for a place in an aged care facility – like the NDIS, operated by the Commonwealth government – for a total of 17,291 bed days.
It’s led to NSW hospital beds being occupied for a total of 41,324 bed days over estimated date of discharge – an average of 52 days per patient.
“The notion of someone waiting in a hospital bed for over 50 days over their estimated date of discharge is not acceptable – it’s bad for the system but it’s also very bad for the patients,” Mr Park said.
“The reality is that this is having a significant cause of bed block and severely impacting patient flow in our hospitals.”
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten laid the blame on the state health authorities, saying “the state hospital systems don’t always immediately notify the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) … when a participant has been admitted”.
“Latest figures from the NDIA show in New South Wales it took an average of 40 days between a participant being admitted to hospital, to when the Agency was notified of the admission,” he said, adding this was “contributing significantly to the hospital discharge delays”.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler in response said the Albanese Government is investing $200m to cut down on long stay older patients as part of the new Strengthening Medicare package.
“I don’t want older Australians to spend longer in hospital when they can be receiving care back in their aged care home,” he said.
The NSW Health Minister is set to raise the issue face-to-face with Mr Butler at a meeting in Sydney on Friday, when health ministers from across the country will meet as part of negotiations over the upcoming health funding agreement.
“I know state and territory health systems around the country will be grappling with the same challenge (of bed block),” Mr Park said.
“It’s unsustainable and it will logically form a core component of our negotiations over the National Health Reform Agreement.”
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