Health Minister Ryan Park says NSW hospitals are bearing the brunt of aged care demands. Photo: Facebook.
More than 50 hospital beds across southern NSW are out of commission due to a strained aged care system, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park has said.
Across the health district 57 patients waiting for federally-funded aged care and NDIS placements are cared for by state hospitals, up from 40 in the previous 12-month period.
Eight of the patients are in Goulburn Base Hospital, seven in Batemans Bay District Hospital, five in Cooma Health Service and three in Moruya District Hospital.
Mr Park took aim at the Federal Government, which he said had left the patients “stranded”.
“The number of people waiting for Commonwealth aged care and NDIS placements stranded in NSW hospitals is growing at an unprecedented and unsustainable level,” he said.
“In southern NSW, this means 57 beds in NSW public hospitals cannot be used as a result.
“Waiting indefinitely in a hospital is not good for patient mobility, recovery or quality of life.
“These people are more than statistics, and they deserve so much better.”
A Federal Government spokesperson hit back, saying they had invested billions into the aged care system.
They said state governments had rejected an offer for more funds.
“The Albanese Government is delivering $47 billion this financial year to strengthen the system, bring down wait times and deliver care to more older Australians than any previous government,” the spokesperson said.
“We’ve already invested an unprecedented $1 billion through our aged care capital grants program, including more than $230 million for projects in NSW and a share of $115 million for hotspots like the Illawarra.
“In this year’s budget we again invested heavily to get new beds in the system, with an additional $2 billion to support the sector to build more aged care beds each year through added incentives and increasing payments to providers.”
Australia’s rapidly aging population poses significant logistical problems for all levels of government, as the number of people who need support increases and the size of the workforce available to support them stagnates.
Mr Park said the NSW Government would invest $35.7 million into an aged care response package, to deliver interim relief for older people experiencing discharge delays.
A spokesperson from Mr Park’s office said the initiative would provide allied health interventions to help patients return home and stay healthy for longer.
The NSW Government is also working with the Commonwealth to expand services helping older people remain well and safely at home, reducing avoidable hospital presentations and admissions.
These initiatives include expanding aged care outreach services to provide short-term multidisciplinary care in the home and rolling out virtual specialist geriatric care to deliver specialist geriatric support to people aged 65 years and over at home.
Original Article published by Zoe Cartwright on About Regional.
