A $28 million pilot will provide interim aged care services to help older patients leave hospital and return home sooner, while they wait for federal support packages.
The program was announced by Minister for Health Ryan Park alongside a new report by the NSW Productivity and Equality Commission (PEC) on older patients stranded in public hospitals.
The PEC report warns that any state action needs to complement, not replace, the Commonwealth’s responsibility for aged care. It was commissioned by the NSW Government in response to the growing impact that discharge delays are having on older people, their families and hospitals.
Based on Commission modelling, the number of older stranded patients could rise from around 1,100 today to more than 7,000 by 2036. That would happen as the population ages and demand for aged care continues to outpace supply.
The report estimates that the Commonwealth Government will need to deliver 2,600 additional residential aged care beds in NSW each year, but is currently delivering only a quarter of what is required. It recommends that the Commonwealth increase funding for aged care, separate to funding for healthcare and hospital activity.
The new NSW pilot program will help patients who are waiting to be discharged from hospital to go home while they wait for Commonwealth Support at Home packages. The support may include clinical care such as wound care and symptom management, personal care, domestic assistance, assistive technology, and home modifications.
The pilot is expected to assist more than 300 patients each year and free up hospital beds for people who need them most. It forms part of the NSW Government’s $35.7 million Aged Care Response Package, which aims to help older patients stay healthy and avoid hospital, as well as return home more quickly and safely.
The government says it has also been pursuing reform through the avenues available to it. It points to expanded specialist geriatric care services, which provide hospital-level care at home to more than 39,000 older patients across the state. It also points to stronger discharge planning, which it says has contributed to improvements in emergency department performance and in the number of people accessing care outside of hospital.
NSW will continue to work with the Commonwealth and all states and territories through the Hospital Discharge Joint Taskforce and the Health Ministers Meeting. The government says the challenge goes beyond state boundaries and needs collective national action.
Mr Park thanked NSW Productivity and Equality Commissioner Peter Achterstraat and the Commission team for their work on the report.
“We cannot continue to wait for the Commonwealth Government to deliver on its aged care responsibilities because too many people are already stranded in our hospitals and they deserve better,” Mr Park said.
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