A decision by the Federal Government to scrap proposed caps on cleaning and gardening support services for older people is not important if they can’t access a package because of long wait lists, say advocates.
“While we welcome changes to lift limits on cleaning and gardening services, what we should be focused on is how older people can better and more quickly access these services, said National Seniors Australia chief executive Chris Grice.
Mr Grice said with around 76,000 people now on the home care wait list, people can expect to wait up to 15 months for a package.
“It’s simply unacceptable,” he said. Announcing the decision mid-November, Aged Care Minister Annikla Wells said “Cap-free cleaning and gardening services will enable older Australians to live safely and comfortably in their own homes.”
Mr Grice referred to the case of South Australian Cyril Tooze, 86, who reportedly opted to end his life under his state’s Voluntary Assisted Dying scheme after waiting in pain for home care support for more than nine months.
“Yes, while maintaining a house and garden is important – whether it’s one hour a week or two is irrelevant if people have to wait 15 months for these services to start,” said Mr Grice.
Samantha Edmonds from the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) said the government’s decision to scrap the caps on cleaning and gardening was a sensible decision for the proposed Support at Home program.
“We would like to thank the government for listening to the feedback from older people,” Ms Edmonds said. “Older people have told us countless times that a cap of 52 hours per annum on cleaning and 18 hours per annum on gardening is woefully inadequate.
Ms Edmonds said for an older person with continence issues, one hour of cleaning a week was not enough to keep the home at a hygienic standard.
“Older people may also require additional gardening for safety reasons, such as fire hazard reduction.” Ms Edmonds also repeated OPAN’s call for the removal of co-contribution payments on personal and respite care in the proposed Support at Home Program to ensure older people did not decline the services due to cost.
“We clearly said in our submission to the Aged Care Bill 2024 that no fees should be charged for personal or respite care,” Ms Edmonds said.
“When older people avoid these services due to cost, it impacts their health and wellbeing and results in further pressure on the healthcare system when they need more advanced care.
“If the government does not remove co-contribution payments, there should be caps to ensure that cost does not present a barrier to accessing these important services.”
By Eileen Wood THE SENIOR Read more here at – https://www.thesenior.com.au/story/8825014/aged-care-cap-removal-welcome-but-access-remains-delayed/