Wait times for residential and home aged care blow out

A new and damning Productivity Commission report shows the median "elapsed time" between getting approval from an aged care assessment team (ACAT) and entering a nursing home in 2018 -19 was 152 days up from 121 days in 2017-2018 and 105 days in 2016-2017 while the wait time for the highest level of home care package had blown out to 34 months.

Council on the Ageing's acting chief Corey Irlam called the situation "shameful and untenable" and said the report highlighted that the Government had no plan for reducing home care wait times.

"This is a crisis that has been mounting for years but has not been addressed with appropriate urgency.

"COTA Australia has repeatedly called for a national strategy to drastically reduce wait times to 60 days. The Government cannot wait until the conclusion of the royal commission to act while people are dying waiting for the care they need."

The Productivity Commission's report said the waiting time for residential care was influenced by availability of places as well as an older person's preference to stay at home for as long as possible. It said people may choose to try to access formal help at home or more help from family before entering a nursing home.

It also noted a reduction in full time equivalent nursing and allied health professional staff in residential care homes homes from 31.8 per cent in 2012 to 28.5 per cent in 2018-19.

Satisfaction levels for both people receiving care and for carers has also dropped.

Carol Williams of Elder Care Watch said a likely explanation for the increase in elapsed time before entering a nursing home was widespread community awareness of unsatisfactory health care in nursing homes as a result of the royal commission.

"Presumably many elders assessed for residential care would be eligible for level three or four packages. Perhaps they and their families find unreasonable delays in home packages preferable to their anticipated experience of institutional care".

Industry body Leading Aged Services Australia said the findings were "deeply disturbing and reinforce the sector's calls for urgent action to cut the home care queue and ensure that funding for residential aged care covers the cost of care."

Acting chief advocate Tim Hicks said, "The report shows the median wait time for people who received a level four home care package in 2018-19 was close to three years - clearly this is unacceptable."

"While the Government has released some additional packages into the system, they need to make a commitment to bring wait times down to a reasonable level, and set out a plan for doing this so that the sector can be ready to meet the increased demand.

"Residential care is also a significant concern. With the average residential care facility now losing money there is a real risk that many services will close without additional urgent support."

Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck acknowledged the report findings that more needed to be done to address home care wait times.

"The welfare and care of elderly and vulnerable Australians remain a priority," he said.