Between 100 and 150 Illawarra hospital beds daily are filled by older people waiting for a place in residential aged care. Photo: SDI Productions.
The Illawarra will share in $115 million funding to address the region’s number one health issue – older people who are effectively homeless in hospital beds.
According to the Community Industry Group, one in five hospital beds – between 100 and 150 patients – in the Illawarra Shoalhaven are filled by an older person who is medically ready for discharge but unable to find a bed in residential aged care.
Having older people in hospital beds while they wait for aged care can lead to adverse impacts on the whole community including emergency department delays, ambulance ramping, surgery delays and poor health outcomes, the organisation says.
“At the system level, it means that more than 100 beds are always blocked from being available for other patients who are acutely unwell.”
The organisation says the Illawarra needs more than 1000 additional residential aged care places to meet the immediate need and warns demand will grow rapidly as the first baby boomers start turning 80, leading to an additional 20 per cent required into the future.
Last week (6 March) the Federal Government announced the Illawarra, Perth, Adelaide and the Hunter will share in $115 million through the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program to rapidly increase access to residential aged care.
An expression of interest (EOI) process is encouraging providers to put forward proposals that will build and open more beds within two years to help address immediate delayed discharge pressures on hospitals.
Federal Aged Care and Seniors Minister Sam Rae acknowledged the critical need for beds in the Illawarra.
“We know the Illawarra needs more aged care capacity quickly – and we won’t waste a moment getting on with funding projects that can uplift supply and get more older Australians into care faster,” he said.
“We want every older Australian to access the care they need and get it sooner and closer to home. That’s exactly what this round is aimed at doing – improving access as fast as possible.”
The EOI process for the Illawarra will open on Friday 13 March. Providers will have six weeks from opening to submit their EOI.
In 2024, Community Industry Group coordinated the formation of an Aged Care Taskforce to address bed block in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District.
It brings together key stakeholders, including government leaders, health professionals, aged care providers and local governments to develop solutions.
In a recent briefing to the minister, the taskforce said older people were effectively homeless in hospital beds and community members in the electorates of Cunningham, Whitlam and Gilmore were unable to access health services in a timely manner.
“These issues have been regularly publicly reported as the region’s number one health and human service issue for more than four years,” the briefing said.
One of its recommendations to the minister was to provide urgent capital and funding to unlock stalled developments and fast-track shovel-ready aged care housing projects in the Illawarra Shoalhaven.
“There has been no net growth in aged care beds across this high needs region in more than 10 years,” it said.
“With timely investment and collaboration, older Australians can live the rest of their lives with dignity, safe and supported at home or in residential care homes – not in hospital wards.”
Cunningham MP Alison Byrnes said she was well aware of how the critical shortage of aged care beds was impacting bed block in the Illawarra.
“I know that the local health district, as well as other providers, have projects they would like to see funded under this program and Fiona Phillips, Carol Berry and I will be working closely with them to see these delivered as quickly as possible,” she said.
“I would like to thank NSW Health Minister and Member for Keira Ryan Park, Member for Wollongong Paul Scully and the Illawarra Aged Care Taskforce for their great collaboration and advocacy working together on this issue, which has been so important in securing our region as one of the government’s top priorities when it comes to delivering more aged care beds.
“I’d also like to acknowledge the valuable advocacy work of our local providers, community groups and representatives like Val Fell who have also worked hard to keep the issues facing the Illawarra’s aged care community front and centre.”
