As Premiers and Health Ministers battle Canberra over hospital funding, a new report has revealed a key reason costs are surging: thousands of older Australians remain stranded in hospital beds because there’s nowhere else for them to go.
Nearly 2,500 elderly patients are medically ready for discharge but stuck in hospital due to a lack of aged care places – the equivalent of 21 full 120-bed aged care homes.
The findings come from The Growth and Drivers of Australian Public Hospital Costs and Prices , a new report by health economist Stephen Duckett, the former Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Health.
The report warns that these “protracted” hospital stays are “significantly impairing the productivity of public hospitals”, with between 8% and 10% of all public hospital bed days now occupied by patients awaiting discharge to aged care or other settings.
Data (see main image) shows a sharp rise in long-stay patients awaiting residential aged care placements across most jurisdictions – except Victoria, which has invested heavily in a network of public sector aged care beds.
At the same time, the number of residential aged care beds per person over 65 has declined steadily over the past decade (see chart below). Duckett says the Commonwealth must take greater responsibility for ensuring timely access to aged care – including “ensuring private facilities have an incentive to take patients awaiting discharge.”
Hospitals under strain nationwide
Last month, State Health Ministers confirmed that 2,500 people were currently stuck in public hospitals waiting for aged care placements.
In Western Australia, ambulance ramping has hit record highs for the third consecutive month (see graph below).
Juniper CEO Russell Bricknell said the situation is dire.
“With on average only 12 available residential aged care beds across Perth on any given day – and projections showing we need up to 2,800 more beds within the next four years – the system is under immense strain.”
In South Australia, 59 patients have been in hospital for more than 100 days despite being cleared for discharge. In response, Premier Peter Malinauskas this week announced two new “step-down” healthcare services providing 120 additional beds for long-stay patients. The state has also doubled capacity at its Transition Care Service at Adelaide’s Pullman Hotel.
“It is completely unacceptable that South Australians are stuck in hospital beds for years, not because of medical need, but because there is nowhere else for them to go,” SA Health Minister Chris Picton said.
In New South Wales, Health Minister Ryan Park said the problem is just as severe in his own electorate of Keira, where one in five hospital beds are occupied by patients ready for discharge but unable to access aged care – a reflection of severe shortages across the Illawarra–Shoalhaven region.