National Seniors Australia has welcomed today’s reports of an additional $1billion to be spent on aged care including an extra 10,000 Home Care Packages but says it’s concerned that not enough will go to those in most need of nursing and medical care.
The move follows the announcement of an additional 23,000 Home Care Packages announced in the October budget, which National Seniors welcomed, only to learn that just 2,000 would be for level 4 packages for those who require the highest level of care.
National Seniors CEO, Professor John McCallum said too many people were waiting more than a year for level 4 packages and that tens of thousands had died waiting for a high-level Commonwealth Home Care Package.
“We learnt from the Royal Commission into Aged Care, Quality and Safety that in one 12-month period, 16,000 older Australians died waiting for a package,” Professor McCallum said.
“We were also told that over the same period a further 13,000 older Australians who had been approved a high-level Home Care Package were shifted into an aged care facility against their wishes because they had to wait for their package to be delivered.”
Professor McCallum said while the recent series of government announcements on reducing the home care waiting list has been positive, there is still a way to go.
“As of July this year, the government’s own figures show there were 103,599 people waiting for a Home Care Package at their desired level.”
