The latest figures on the number of older Australians waiting for a Home Care Package (HCP) came out this week – and it was not good news for the thousands of elderly needing care at home.
The queue has fallen by just 2,392 in the six months from January to June 2020 – despite 30,000 new packages being added to the system during the same period.
Figures show 102,081 Australians were still waiting for a package at their approved level as of 30 June 2020 – down from 104,473 on 31 December last year, according to the Home Care Packages Program data report for the 4th Quarter 2019-20.
The waiting times for packages also remained lengthy – at three to six months just to receive a Level 1 package and over 12 months to receive the higher Level 2, 3 and 4 packages.
The numbers are a slight improvement on the March quarter – where the queue dropped by less than 1,000.
The majority of those waiting (97%) also had access to support through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP).
Government says wait list is going down
But the report shows there is still a long way to go before elderly Australians receive the care they are assessed as needing when they need it.
The Federal Government – which oversees the queue – says their data shows that the wait list is continuing to fall.
“The latest published home care data does not reflect the 6,105 allocated as part of an investment announced in June which started being released in July 2020,” Aged Care Minister, Senator Richard Colbeck said.
“It also does not reflect the additional 23,000 home care packages made available under the 2020-21 budget that will start being released from November.”
These new packages will bring the total number in the system to 185,587 by the end of June next year – but that still leaves many approved for services waiting.
Counsel Assisting recommends getting rid of the queue
Change may be coming however.
The Royal Commission wrapped up its final hearings last week, indicating that it will recommend Australia moves to a demand-driven system for both residential care and home care – where people will receive their HCP within three months of being assessed as needing care.
The Counsel Assisting also argued for packages to be released for all 100,000 people currently on the wait list by 31 December 2021 – only 14 months away.
It’s an ambitious target – and one we suspect may require more lead time for the system to meet the increased demand.
We think it’s a commitment worth making however.
With 30,000 deaths among those waiting for home care over the past two years, more services can’t come fast enough.
