How the lack of beds in aged care is impacting Ballarat's elderly

"We got a call (from a private aged care centre) telling us to take all her stuff out of the room," said Lisa*, who requested a pseudonym as she works in a Ballarat nursing home.

Last November, Lisa was notified that her mother's two-week booked room for respite care was taken by somebody else. This was just one day after the unwell woman, who is in her 90s, went back to a Ballarat hospital in a wheelchair.

"The minute she leaves her spot, the room is no longer hers," she said. "Apparently that has to do with government funding."

Despite having more than 20 years working in aged care, Lisa was still shocked to encounter the long-lasting workforce shortage and lack of beds.

Many of Australia's aged care providers have shut down wards and beds because of the growing staff shortages, especially in regional and remote areas, according to a report about the aged-care sector by the Committee for Economic Development Australia (CEDA). And there will be a shortfall of at least 110,000 direct-care workers by 2030.

Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics census data, there are 34,866 senior citizens living in the City of Ballarat local government area. More than one in 10 said they need assistance with core activities, for example shopping, transport and cleaning.

In Ballarat, almost one in 10 workers are in the health care and social assistance sector, which is already the most engaged sector. But Lisa said people constantly talked about the lack of medical staff.

She told The Courier that after her mum was discharged from the hospital, it found arrangements for her at the Queen Elizabeth rehabilitation centre.

"There is a lack of beds," said Lisa. "We went through all sorts of trouble trying to find a new place for her to go to."

They called everywhere, put names down and hoped someone could call them back. They eventually did.

"We don't have enough hospital beds. We don't have enough beds in aged care facilities... there is a real shortage of dementia beds in Ballarat as well," said Lisa.

Lisa said although her mum doesn't need a dementia bed now, the two dementia beds in the aged care centre don't meet the demand.

"There are some people in the place where [my mum] is that should be [in a dementia ward], but they just don't have the space to get them in," she said. "The government needs to address this but they are not."

John Scannell, the president of Ballarat City Senior Citizens club, raised his concerns about the slight decline of dementia members in community activities.

"In some of the case, we manage them as best as we can here until they go into care," Mr Scannell told The Courier last week. Dementia cases in Ballarat are projected to triple from 1,805 in 2017 to 5,409 in 2050, according to City of Ballarat's Ageing Well Strategy report.

The City of Ballarat's community wellbeing director Matthew Wilson told The Courier that there is about $1.2 million allocated towards Ageing Well Services, "consisting of program delivery costs, recreation, social activities, events, Senior's Awards, Senior's Month and Senior's club support".

"We continue to support community members seeking aged care and other community support through our new Community Connector program," Mr Wilson said in a statement.

Lisa said her mum's Commonwealth in-home service was "fabulous", but was not a choice for her anymore as she couldn't stay at home.

"[If my mum stays with me], I would have had to buy equipment like lifting machines (and) hospital beds - she could not access the showers in our bathrooms so we would have had to have bathrooms remodelled. Things changed around the house to have access for a wheelchair and she needs 24-hour care. So that wasn't viable for her to come here," said Lisa.

The Australian Department of Health and Aged Care said in a response "following engagements with residential aged care providers in Ballarat last week, the Commonwealth did not receive any intelligence that there was a shortage of beds or indications that this was an issue in the region".

They added several programs are changing or receiving more funding, in partnership with the state government, and "the Government acknowledges that addressing low pay is critical to recruiting the workforce needed to provide safe, quality care to the growing number of older people in Australia".

Ballarat has among the shortest wait times for aged care assessments in Victoria, and also has more older people receiving in home services than the national average," they said.

READ THE FULL GOVERNMENT RESPONSE BELOW

"The Australian Government recognises that a skilled and supported workforce is essential to delivering quality care to older people.

"The Government acknowledges that addressing low pay is critical to recruiting the workforce needed to provide safe, quality care to the growing number of older people in Australia. As part of the 2023-24 Budget, the Government announced a $11.3 billion investment to deliver on its commitment to fund the outcome of the Fair Work Commission aged care work value case. Initial feedback from the sector is that higher wages is having a positive impact and supporting the sector to attract and retain more workers.

"The Government is also delivering a range of solutions to boost workforce numbers including an Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement that offers a streamlined pathway for aged care providers to sponsor quality aged care workers from overseas; funding the Workforce Advisory Service, which provides free and confidential advice to support providers to develop and apply best practice workforce planning approaches; and through a significant investment in Fee-Free TAFE to support more people to undertake aged care training.

"Ballarat has among the shortest wait times for aged care assessments in Victoria, and also has more older people receiving in home services than the national average.

"The issue of delayed hospital discharge of long stay older patients crosses a variety of health disciplines and sectors, including primary care, aged care and allied health. The Commonwealth is presently undertaking a significant reform program of work in these areas designed to facilitate better access to care and support for all Australians, including older people. Both governments agree addressing the number of long stay older patients (LSOP) in acute settings, particularly with complex needs, is a challenge. All levels of government accept and recognise delayed hospital discharge of older people continues to be a growing problem for governments and for quality of life of older people. As the Australian population ages further, there is a need for all levels of government to collaborate in order to better manage this issue into the future.

"Following engagements with residential aged care providers in Ballarat last week, the Commonwealth did not receive any intelligence that there was a shortage of beds or indications that this was an issue in the region.

"The Australian Government aims to ensure that older people can access the aged care services they need wherever they live, including in regional areas such as Ballarat. As a result, the government continues to implement a range of supports to improve access to quality and safe aged care services in regional areas, and address identified service gaps. This includes the following

"A key part of this change is the preference of older Australians to age in place.

"In response, the Government has considerably expanded the number of home care packages available and is developing a new Support at Home program to give people timely access to safe and high-quality services in their own homes.

"There are multiple programs that support older people in Victoria, including aged care related services.

"All Australian Government aged care expenditure on aged care services in Victoria in 2022-23 was $6.6B ($6,601,521,126). Nationally, the equivalent figure was $28.0B ($27,967,972,994) in 2022-23."