Aged care set to crumble
Press release
15 September 2010
The aged care system must undergo urgent reform in order to meet current and future demand, reveals a new Access Economics report released by National Seniors Australia today.
The report, The Future of Aged Care in Australia, finds the current system is: plagued by staffing and bed shortages, crumbling under current financial pressures and unable to meet the future demands of an ageing population.
Unless policy-makers implement viable funding alternatives, burgeoning costs will render the sector unsustainable, it concludes.
National Seniors chief executive, Michael O’Neill, says all this spells bad news for consumers.
“Older Australians are already feeling the effects of a system in decline. In the past five years the ratio of more qualified to less qualified staff has dropped and the ratio of residents to staff has increased.
“Not only do nurses get paid $300 a week less in aged care but when the system is run as a business, cost-cutting comes in the way of staffing reductions”.
“This means consumers aren’t getting the quantity or quality of care they should. They’re waiting longer and longer for help - either in nursing home beds or at home - that just isn’t there,” he said.
“This situation is unacceptable in a country as advanced and as wealthy as Australia”.
The report comes only days after Prime Minister Gillard announced that the “Minister for Ageing” will now be the “Minister for Mental Health and Ageing”.
“This move to a shared portfolio may reflect a downgrading of aged care just as it reaches a critical juncture. Let’s hope it’s not the case”.
The Productivity Commission, currently conducting an inquiry into aged care, is due to report its findings in April 2011.
“Unfortunately, reforms arising out of the inquiry will take several years to roll out. We have real stories from real people - mums and dads, and grandparents - who are in the system now and really struggling,” said O’Neill.
National Seniors is calling for a consumer-centred approach to aged care reform; improved wages and conditions to attract skilled staff; and an effective funding model in which quality of care is paramount.
Aged care funding alternatives explored in the report include: long term care insurance; voluntary incentivised savings accounts; a voucher system; and reverse mortgages. In a survey of 3292 people mostly aged 50 plus, savings accounts (58%) and long term care insurance (37%) proved most popular. Reverse mortgages were least popular (18%).
Click here to download a copy of the report.
With around 280,000 members - working and retired - across the country, National Seniors is the consumer lobby for older Australians. It is the fourth largest group of its kind in the world.
15 September 2010
Aged care set to crumble under burgeoning costs, says new report
The aged care system must undergo urgent reform in order to meet current and future demand, reveals a new Access Economics report released by National Seniors Australia today.
The report, The Future of Aged Care in Australia, finds the current system is: plagued by staffing and bed shortages, crumbling under current financial pressures and unable to meet the future demands of an ageing population.
Unless policy-makers implement viable funding alternatives, burgeoning costs will render the sector unsustainable, it concludes.
National Seniors chief executive, Michael O’Neill, says all this spells bad news for consumers.
“Older Australians are already feeling the effects of a system in decline. In the past five years the ratio of more qualified to less qualified staff has dropped and the ratio of residents to staff has increased.
“Not only do nurses get paid $300 a week less in aged care but when the system is run as a business, cost-cutting comes in the way of staffing reductions”.
“This means consumers aren’t getting the quantity or quality of care they should. They’re waiting longer and longer for help - either in nursing home beds or at home - that just isn’t there,” he said.
“This situation is unacceptable in a country as advanced and as wealthy as Australia”.
The report comes only days after Prime Minister Gillard announced that the “Minister for Ageing” will now be the “Minister for Mental Health and Ageing”.
“This move to a shared portfolio may reflect a downgrading of aged care just as it reaches a critical juncture. Let’s hope it’s not the case”.
The Productivity Commission, currently conducting an inquiry into aged care, is due to report its findings in April 2011.
“Unfortunately, reforms arising out of the inquiry will take several years to roll out. We have real stories from real people - mums and dads, and grandparents - who are in the system now and really struggling,” said O’Neill.
National Seniors is calling for a consumer-centred approach to aged care reform; improved wages and conditions to attract skilled staff; and an effective funding model in which quality of care is paramount.
Aged care funding alternatives explored in the report include: long term care insurance; voluntary incentivised savings accounts; a voucher system; and reverse mortgages. In a survey of 3292 people mostly aged 50 plus, savings accounts (58%) and long term care insurance (37%) proved most popular. Reverse mortgages were least popular (18%).
Key Points
- Currently 800,000 Australians receive ‘formal’ (government-funded) aged care services: 80% community care; 14% high care residential; 6% low care residential
- Government spending on aged care will more than double relative to national income between 2010 and 2050
- In the past five years quality of care in nursing homes has deteriorated with the ratio of more qualified to less qualified staff dropping and the ratio of residents to staff increasing
- Patients record greater satisfaction and better health outcomes on a number of clinical indicators when there are higher proportions of registered nurses
- In the next ten years nursing home staff numbers are projected to increase by only around 14 percent yet demand is set to jump by almost 60 percent
- The average construction cost of a high care nursing bed is $40 a day, which is significantly higher than the current accommodation payment of around $27 a day
- Urgent need for improved wages and conditions to attract skilled staff, better training and advancement opportunities, and a more positive workplace culture
- Currently the government pays for aged care through general tax revenue, which is used to subsidise the provision of selected services
- Without further tax revenue, burgeoning costs threaten the sustainability of the current system
Click here to download a copy of the report.
Media contact: 0409 055 156
With around 280,000 members - working and retired - across the country, National Seniors is the consumer lobby for older Australians. It is the fourth largest group of its kind in the world.
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