Federal Aged Care Minister Sam Rae has visited Wollongong to meet with community and industry leaders in a region estimated to be 1,000 aged care beds short.
The NSW South Coast is facing the highest rate of “bed block” in the country, with between 100 and 150 older patients every day waiting in hospital for an aged care bed.
Not For Profit Community Industry Group (CIG), which represents local community services, is pushing for Federal support to repurpose a former residential aged care facility as an interim care hub. The facility would provide step-down care for older patients while they wait for permanent aged care placement.
CIG Chief Executive Nicky Sloan said hospital bed block is costing the region $86 million annually, compared with an estimated $10-14 million to establish the interim service. The group is also lobbying for capital investment in a new aged care home.
“We know how many beds we could develop in this region, we know what projects are shovel-ready, but we need capital grants to support those,” Nicky said.
Ministerial visit
Minister Rae said it was “an honour” to join industry and community leaders at the roundtable and discuss how the Albanese Government could deliver “better quality and access to aged care” in the Illawarra.
The visit comes as the NSW Government confirms it is expanding its Aged Care Specialist Outreach Service to 14 homes across the region by the end of the year.
The Outreach Service connects aged care residents with in-home clinical support, including geriatricians, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse consultants. Referrals are made by aged care homes or NSW Ambulance.
In the past two years, almost 4,000 referrals have been made, with more than 3,380 patients able to be cared for in their aged care home rather than transferred to hospital.
