More than 200,000 elderly waiting for care as government lacks data on crisis
Federal health officials cannot confirm how many elderly Australians are stuck in hospital beds because states define the problem differently.
The federal government has played down the number of elderly Australians languishing in hospital beds, but does not have its own data because of disagreement over how to define the problem.
Labor has also been accused of short-changing older Australians after it was revealed 93 per cent of home care packages released in the past five months provided only 60 per cent of the care needed.
With time running out for the Commonwealth to come to an agreement on a stalled hospital funding deal with the states and territories, the health department confirmed more than 200,000 older Australians were waiting for care.
Officials confirmed 113,150 people were waiting for an aged care assessment and 107,281 for a home care package.
But they could not confirm data from the states and territories showing more than 2700 medically fit older Australians in long-stay hospital beds – as highlighted by News Corp Australia’s Sick of Waiting campaign – as they waited for an aged care place.
Health Secretary Blair Comley said the government acknowledged there was an issue of delayed discharge of vulnerable patients, and that needed to be addressed, but could not confirm the number because there was not a common definition of the problem.
“The states and territories provide that information on different bases,” he said.
“We are working intensively with states and territories on developing common definition so that we can have that dataset.”
Opposition health and aged care spokeswoman Anne Ruston lambasted it as “rather head in the sand”.
“It is no wonder why the states and territories have lost faith in the Albanese government on this issue,” she said.
“How can you address a problem if you don’t even understand the scale of it?”
The department also said it had not done any analysis on increasing aged care funding to deal with the bed block crisis.
Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne said if the government wanted to find health savings it would come to next week’s health ministers’ meeting with a plan to end the rationing of aged care.
Health officials also revealed 93 per cent of the Support at Home packages released this financial year were interim packages, accounting for just 60 per cent of the care those older Australians were assessed as needing.
It can take up to 17 weeks for those elderly Australians to be transitioned to a full package.
Ms Ruston said Labor had lied and was short-changing older Australians.
“When the minister (Sam Rae) fronted cameras and promised 83,000 new packages, he failed to mention older Australians would only get 60 per cent of what they need and deserve,” she said.
She accused the government of prioritising the budget over people.
Senator Allman-Payne said it was not the sort of government Australians voted for.
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Originally published as More than 200,000 elderly waiting for care as government lacks data on crisis
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