The Federal Government and the South Australian State Government will spend $56.3 million to try and unplug the aged care bed blockages that currently sees 190 South Australians in hospital when they should be in an aged care bed.
The package includes $42.9 million for so-called “geriatric flying squads” in which hospital staff will help older patients transition into residential aged care.
“This will be doctors, nurses and staff from SA Health going out to aged care providers to help them with the transition of people from hospital into aged care, particularly those people with complex needs to make sure that they're better supported and aged care providers are more willing to accept them and get them out of hospital,” said Chris Picton MP, South Australia's Minister for Health and Wellbeing, at a press conference.
“In addition, making sure that they're less likely to come back to hospitals afterwards and bounce back into hospital, which is not only bad for the broader healthcare system, but it's actually a poor outcome for those people themselves to be in and out of hospital all the time."
The package also includes:
- Up to $4.6 million to extend the Acute to Residential Care Transition Program to support people with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia;
- $2.1 million to help older people recover from a hospital stay with short-term care through the extended Transition Care Programme; and
- up to $1.8 million to extend the Comprehensive Palliative Care in Aged Care program, to support new and advanced ways of delivering end-of-life care.
"Our aged care providers are under the pump. They are, you know, obviously, wanting to make sure that they don't get into trouble in terms of taking people who are complex and difficult without the support that they need in place. At the moment they don't feel like they have that support," Chris said.
