By Brendan Rees
The family of an elderly man, who faces a wait of up to two years to receive an urgent home care package, say the health system is failing him.
Anton Krug, 81, of Cranbourne, struggles to do most tasks around the house after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease last December.
He relies on his daughter Christine Ritchie, 46, for support, who says apart from being able to prepare meals for himself, he “literally can’t do anything”.
“The shake in his arms are getting worse so that’s going to be a problem soon,” she explains.
“He can’t change his bed, he can’t do house cleaning, gardening, he can’t shower himself – all those things”.
A council support worker visits him during the week to help him shower but Ms Ritchie says it’s not enough.
In February, Mr Krug had a face-to-face assessment with a health worker, and was approved a level-four home-care package — the highest level of need; but has been told he faces a wait of up to 24 months.
A home-care package is a Federal Government funded service that assesses people to receive affordable care services to remain at home for as long as possible, rather than having to move into nursing homes.
The Federal Government says wait times for individuals assessed as high priority are “significantly faster” to ensure access to care for those that need it most.
But Ms Ritchie described the two-year wait as “ridiculous” and called on authorities to address the issue.
“He has had quite a few falls lately and I don’t feel it is safe for him to go back home,” she says, after Mr Krug collapsed in December and was admitted to rehabilitation.
To make matters worse, Mr Krug is the carer of his 42-year-old son, who also has Parkinson’s disease and is wheel-chair bound.
Fortunately, his son, who lives with Mr Krug, does get some support through the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
A spokesperson for the Federal Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said people assessed as a high priority can access interim packages, with wait times for people seeking level three and four packages, reduced to a few months.
“The Government is continuing to increase investment in home care to address the demand with $2.7 billion in additional investment made since the 2018-19 Budget, including 10,000 home care packages announced in November 2019,” the spokesperson said.
“People who are yet to be assigned a home care package are, in the vast majority of cases, approved to access services through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme”.
Leading Age Services Australia (LASA) CEO Sean Rooney said he was “deeply concerned” about the situation facing Mr Krug and thousands of older Australians in need.
“LASA has consistently asked the Federal Government to establish a plan to reduce the home care package wait to a maximum of three months. We believe that would require an additional investment of $500 million a year, over three years,” Mr Rooney said.
“There is also a lot that the Government could do to address unmet demand at little cost to the budget bottom line, including promoting and enhancing the Pension Loans Scheme and giving higher priority to those with no means to pay for services privately.
“It is appalling that more than 112,000 older Australians are waiting for a home care package at their approved level”.
