Western Australia is at the forefront of a deepening impending crisis. 100 to 200 hospital beds taken up by patients waiting to transition into aged care facilities. Perth’s hospitals have recently been at the point of full capacity. At the same time, the state’s aged care system has been stretched to breaking. Every day, with increasing severity, hospitals are being crunched on their resource end. This week, they’ve cancelled more than 100 elective surgeries to keep up with the increase in traffic at ERs.
The ongoing crisis shows that, despite many ACFI changes and increases, the aged care sector desperately needs reform and more money. Clare Grieveson, from Southern Cross Care WA, brought the hammer down. She stated that aged care residents should be going to EDs as a last resort, if at all. Grieveson issued a caution that the current system is maxed out. Thus, the problem of undersupply of aged care beds will continue to grow over the next few years at the very least.
Strain on Hospital Resources
The flow-on effects of the increasing aged care patients into our hospitals is putting greater pressure on healthcare services across WA. According to Grieveson, “It’s really challenging at the moment because aged care is full.” Finding available beds within local communities has become a more daunting challenge, she said.
As a result of this strain, major hospitals in Perth have had to cancel elective surgeries to manage the rising number of emergency cases. As of this week alone, hospitals have already had to reschedule more than 100 elective procedures. This demonstrates the critical need for systemic reforms to hospital and aged care capacities.
Grieveson emphasised an urgent need for endorsed aged care in the region. By 2041, local governments such as Joondalup and Wanneroo will require more than 1000 new aged care beds just to meet demand. “We absolutely need to build and it’s going to be really challenging to meet that target,” she stated.
Federal Funding and Commitment
In light of the crisis, Western Australia has signed on for more federal funding to support strengthening the aged care workforce. John Carey, WA’s Minister for Housing, Local Government and Planning, sounded hopeful on this latest surge of resources. As federal representative Patrick Gorman left us wondering. He failed to unequivocally call for additional funding to meet the needs of aged care in WA.
Gorman mentioned, “We are already working on investing in aged care across Australia,” highlighting ongoing efforts to address the broader challenges faced by the sector. He praised the government’s commitment to implementing all of the recommendations on the royal commission report. Among them, he stressed the importance of increasing support for Australia’s most vulnerable and elderly citizens.
Even with these assurances in place, fear is palpable. People are concerned that the funding pledged will not be sufficient to address the immediate priorities of WA’s aged care system. Russell Bricknel from Infrastructure Australia noted that today’s investment is not enough to realise what’s needed. “In an ideal world we’ll be thinking that Western Australia would be getting between 10,000-15,000 packages a year and we’re a long, long way from that,” Bricknel remarked.
The Need for Aged Care Reform
The Australian Medical Association have been urging for immediate action. They stress that the government needs to do more to boost hospital capacity and address serious systemic issues in the aged care sector. Aged care reform is critical to helping hospitals better respond to the needs of older patients. It protects the healthcare system from being inundated.
Grieveson re-emphasized that there are specific efforts directed at reducing avoidable emergency department usage. “There are multiple supports in place to prevent our residents having to go to ED if they don’t need to,” she explained. She admitted that at times EDs really are the right place for some patients.
Directly impacting Western Australia is an ongoing crisis manifested by increasing strain on aged care services. This need is all the more urgent as our population continues to age. As Grieveson noted, “We really are full and so it’s hard to find an available bed in a patient’s local community.”
