More than 22,000 NSW seniors on the waiting list for home care assistance

Latest statistics show that the number of older Australians who are waiting for the right level of care is continuing to grow with almost 128,000 waiting for a home care package (HCP) that matches their specific needs; 1,000 more than the previous quarter and 23,000 more than December 2017.

In December 2018, the Government announced 10,000 high level HCPs would be released in 2018-19. This was followed up with a further announcement just last month of an additional 10,000 packages by 2020: 3,000 at basic care needs (level 1 funding), 5,000 at low level and intermediate care needs (level 2 and 3 funding), and 2,000 at high care needs (level 4 funding).

The recent home care package report for the last quarter of 2018 found more than 90,000 people were receiving a HCP in September 2018, an increase of 16,441 people when compared with the same month in 2017.

By the end of 2018, 53,770 people had been offered an interim HCP as they waited for their assessed level of care. Of these, nearly 30,000 had accepted the temporary package, 6,270 were still deciding on whether to take the HCP, and 17,642 had not accepted the offer of a lower level package.

However, the total number of people waiting for their appropriate level of care stands at 127,748 and people are continuing to wait at least one year for even the most basic level of care, according to the data.

Frustrated family members have come forward to share their personal experiences with the aged care funding. Sharon Walker explained she had become “increasingly cynical” after her mother was approved for a level three HCP 18 months ago and told she would receive the lower level 2 package in the interim, but “to date, nothing”. Others have taken to social media to speak out, with one person saying their father’s HCP had eventually arrived one year after his death.

The 2018-19 report also broke down the figures by package level and state.

Home Care Approvals in NSW

In the October-December 2018 quarter, there were 26,220 approvals for home care through Australia, with 8,603 of these packages in New South Wales. By level of funding, this was:

• 680 approvals at level 1
• 3,503 approvals at level 2
• 3,106 approvals at level 3
• 1,314 approvals at level 4

Awaiting HCP approval in New South Wales

At the close of the year, a staggering 22,843 people in NSW were waiting for their approved level of HCP and had not yet been offered a lower level package in the interim:

• 1,178 at level 1
• 9,410 at level 2
• 8,656 at level 3
• 3,599 at level 4

More than 10,000 HCPs released in NSW

The department released 29,400 packages during the last quarter of 2018, at an average of 2,260 per week. In New South Wales, a total of 10,448 HCPs were released:

• 1,042 at level 1
• 4,715 at level 2
• 3,383 at level 3
• 1,308 at level 4

Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Ken Wyatt, did not directly answer when questioned on whether the waiting lists were acceptable, but focused on the number of new HCPs released over the last quarter which proved the government’s “commitment to provide more senior Australians with subsidised care and support at higher levels.”

However, National Seniors Australia chief executive, John McCallum, described the increasing waiting lists as a “running sore” and how it is “economically irrational” that it hasn’t been dealt with.

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