Hospitals are already flooded with elderly Australians lying in beds when they should be in aged care. The tide is rising.
In 2022, then-Aged Care Minister Anika Wells warned the system was not ready for the incoming wave of Baby Boomers. The reality? She may have been five years too late.
Data from Taylor Fry, presented at the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) National Conference last week, shows a 42% increase in older patients waiting for care between 2017 and 2023, totalling around 40,000 episodes in 2022-23 – see below.
Those delays consumed half a million bed days that year – a 90% jump over the same period. 30% of those patients had neurological conditions, including 13% with dementia and 4% with stroke.
As the latest figures show, the numbers have continued to decline.
In tomorrow’s SATURDAY, we also report that dementia care is heading for a crisis point, with aged care homes and retirement villages under mounting pressure. Beds are scarce, funding is tight, and demand is surging.
The only sustainable answer is to deliver care more efficiently – and right now, the Productivity Commission’s latest report – released overnight – and the Government’s Economic Reform Roundtable – to be held in Canberra next week – offer the forum to make it happen.
Peak bodies Ageing Australia and Catholic Health Australia have told the Commission the same thing: cut duplication, align regulation, and free up resources for frontline care.
Yet despite years of Government reports acknowledging the crushing compliance burden, the Prime Minister has already signalled some reforms may be deferred until after the 2028 election.
That’s not leadership – it’s a failure to lead.
Providers are spending millions of dollars and hours that could be redirected into dementia care, digital transformation, or workforce retention – areas where demand is skyrocketing.
The new Aged Care Act starts on 1 November.
Without decisive Government action to change the system now, we risk locking in another decade of onerous rules that drain resources, stifle innovation, and leave thousands of older Australians stranded in hospital when they should be receiving care.
The floodwaters are here. Canberra must choose: sink, or swim.
