Bev Jowle: Time to prioritise older generation as aged care becomes an afterthought amid health crisis

Barely a day goes by where we don’t hear about ambulance ramping or a code yellow being declared at multiple hospitals across WA. And on any given day, more than 200 people are also waiting in hospital for an aged care bed. This backlog has major consequences, including delayed discharges, crowded emergency departments and overstretched staff. Investing in aged care is not just compassionate, it’s an essential strategy to resolve Australia’s broader health system crisis. It’s time to shift our health crisis response by prioritising initiatives that support older people to stay out of hospital. The WA Government’s Time to Think initiative offers a promising start. The most recent WA Budget promised to deliver an additional 42 beds to accommodate hospital-bound seniors in an aged care setting. Rather than languishing in hospital, this allows older patients to receive dedicated transitional care while being supported to consider their ongoing aged care options. This kind of early intervention, and structured support saves hospital capacity and provides older people the breathing space to make choices. Unfortunately, it is not yet being delivered at sufficient scale, or outside the Perth metropolitan area. I believe rapid expansion of programs outside of hospitals is the only way we have any hope of easing the mounting pressure on services which are intended for emergency and specialised care. WA faces workforce shortages in aged care, especially in metro and regional areas. Many aged care workers are underpaid, casual, or travelling between multiple sites, leading to burnout, inconsistent care, and high turnover. Raising wages, improving employment stability, and boosting training pathways are vital to retain skilled staff. We must also ensure staffing targets meet the growing demand in regional centres where aged care options remain sparse. To reduce hospital pressure, we also need greater investment in hospital-to-home services. The most recent WA Budget committed $5.2 million to fund 219 hospital-in-the-home beds, expanding capacity to 296, but more are still needed. Properly resourced hospital-to-home care allows seniors to recover in familiar surroundings, reduces emergency department visits, and frees up beds in wards. Strengthening continuity of care, especially for complex and chronic conditions, keeps older West Australians healthier and delays the need for residential admissions. This can only be a good thing when the reality is those 2800 beds will simply not be built in time. Another crucial piece of the puzzle that I believe is often overlooked, is support for families juggling life and caring for an older relative. Many carers (primarily women) dig into their work hours, social lives and strain their own mental health to cover care gaps. What families need is flexible respite care, subsidies, counselling, and reliable care coordination options. Underfunded or inaccessible in-home care packages force families into crisis. The new Support at Home program implementation with additional packages being released in November must be matched by local support measures in WA. These may include supports such as low-cost transport, grants for home modifications, and expanded allied health support in the home. The health crisis in WA’s hospitals is amplified by an ageing population that deserves dignity, choice and support. Only a co-ordinated, adequately funded aged-care system can help relieve hospital overload, support our carers, and guarantee dignity in ageing. Prioritising significant and immediate investment in supports outside of hospital, addressing workforce shortages, expanding hospital-to-home pathways, and empowering families, will help us start to tame our health care crisis. Too often, aged care is treated as an afterthought, a cost centre rather than a vital pillar of our health system. And let’s not forget that older people being discharged from a hospital and beds opening up for others is not just a statistic. It’s also a family relieved, and a life lived with autonomy preserved. WA has begun to act, but now it’s time to deepen that commitment. Our ageing community doesn’t want to be confined to a hospital; they deserve the dignity of being provided with timely and appropriate care in a place of their choosing. Let’s deliver. Bev Jowle is the chief executive officer at Advocare