With more and more Australians wanting to live at home longer, preferring to receive assistance at home rather than entering an aged care facility during their retirement ages, as found by the Royal Commission in 2020. As a result, there are long wait times for the home care packages to get processed.
Former minister for Senior Australians stated in a 2021 media release that there were 204,146 home care applicants in the 1st quester 2021-22 data, which is 41,000 more seniors accessing care packages in 12 months. Despite the increase in home care package applicants, processing times are decreasing as a result to the increase of government investment of $6.5 billion for 80,000 home care packages, which commenced in July 2021. Increases in government investment into home care packages has resulted in a 25 per cent decrease in the number of people in the waiting list since September 2020.
Each person who has been approved for a Home Care Package by the Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) also receives an indicative ‘need’ rating, with most people rated at ‘medium’ priority. They will be placed on the waiting list according to this need rating and will be assigned a package once they reach the top of the queue. However, the queue is dynamic and people with higher or urgent needs will be prioritised to receive a package. This means they could be waiting for a package for anywhere between six months and two years, depending on the level of package sought. Applicants with packages at the lower levels may take 3-6 months to process, while packages at the higher levels may take more than 12 months.
Retrieved from the My Aged Care website
You can find out your place in the queue by logging into the online account, or calling My Aged Care on 1800 200 422.
Gratitude In-Home Care offers a free safety Assessment of the entire home and can organise for any modifications to be done, cleaning and decluttering. GIHC can also help with making sure the correct medication is taken every day and night, as well as providing around the clock care if needed.
Contact us to have a no-charge, no-obligation chat about your options
We provide the following services:
- Personal care
- Palliative care
- Overnight & 24-hour care
- Respite care
- Medication assistance
- Nursing services
- After hospital care
- Companionship
- Shopping support and meal preparation
- Gardening and home maintenance
- Transport support
- Assistance with household tasks
- Community access
Contact us to have a no-charge, no-obligation chat about your options.
For more info, visit our website at: http://www.gihc.com.au/ Call us on (03) 9863 6959, email us at info@gihc.com.au
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