A rally was held last Thursday as part of a campaign to keep open Wallsend Aged Care Centre, which lies 11km west of the Newcastle CBD.
Of the home’s 98 beds, 68 lie empty, The Newcastle Herald has reported. Last financial year, $10.35 million was committed to Hunter New England Local Health District for the facility.
Health Services Union NSW member Toni Allenn told The Newcastle Herald she believes many elderly and disabled people are staying long-term in Hunter hospitals due to a shortage of aged care beds.
“People should not be in hospital because they cannot get an aged care bed when we have 68 empty beds,” she said.
“Everything functions on those wards. It is such a waste of taxpayer money for those empty beds, so we are going to keep up the fight.”
Greater Metropolitan Health Services executive director Karen Kelly told The Newcastle Herald “no decisions” have been made about the future of the aged care home, attributing the low occupancy to COVID-19, the preference for home care, and staff shortages.
"We continue to actively recruit, unfortunately our recent efforts have been unsuccessful. We utilise agency nurses to ensure we continue to provide quality care to our residents."
Last October, Sonia Hornery, MP for Wallsend said the facility is not being “properly utilised” despite demand for aged care and a “bed block” problem in “overwhelmed” local hospitals.
The SOURCE: Many regional hospitals are overwhelmed by older patients having nowhere to go when they are ready to be discharged. It’s likely there would be demand for Wallsend’s aged care places if the home was fully operational.
