The final Royal Commission formal hearing for 2019 will be held in the nation’s capital from Monday 9 December to Friday 13 December 2019, and examine the interface between aged care system and health care system
The hearing will take in a number of issues that have already been raised in other hearings this year, namely:
- the lack of access to doctors and specialists;
- the negative effect of residents being taken to emergency for treatment that could be provided in the facility; and
- the failure to transfer discharge plans from hospitals to facilities, potentially leaving residents without adequate follow-up care.
I predict the Senior Counsel’s closing will present a sad truth those in the sector already know: when a person enters residential care, their right to access the same health services as other Australians often falls away.
See below for the full scope:
- the challenges faced by people living in residential aged care services attempting to access health services funded under Medicare or by the states and territories;
- whether there is a need to improve access to primary health care services (particularly general practitioners, nurse practitioners and primary care nurses) for older people in residential aged care, and if so, how this could be achieved;
- whether there is a need to improve access to high quality secondary and tertiary (sub-acute and acute) health care services for older people in residential aged care, and if so, how this could be achieved;
- the challenges faced by people living in aged care in accessing medical specialists, and the harms arising from inadequate access;
- whether it is necessary or desirable to improve how older people are transferred to and from aged care and hospitals, including the appropriateness of rehabilitation and transition care services post hospital attendance;
- whether there is a need for improved data collection, communication and planning in relation to the health needs of older people accessing aged care services, including the interoperability of care management systems; and
- the sufficiency of access to state and territory funded palliative care services for people living in residential aged care.
