States demand ‘urgent’ action from Canberra as aged care hospital crisis gets worse, alarming figures reveal

Alarming new figures have revealed the number of older patients stranded in hospitals has surged 30 per cent over summer, as the States demand “urgent” action from Canberra. A national report card on “aged care access block” found 3137 aged care patients were stuck in public hospital beds in February, up from 2419 in September. The figures include an average 339 patients in WA. “It’s clear that this is an increasingly urgent issue for older Western Australians and our hospital system,” Health Minister Meredith Hammat said. “Patients deserve better, and we will continue to engage with our Federal counterparts to ensure Western Australians get access to the healthcare they need, when they need it.” State health ministers called it a “spiralling problem” ahead of a meeting with Federal Minister Mark Butler in Canberra on Friday. The Prime Minister and Premiers agreed to a new five-year Commonwealth funding deal for hospitals worth $220 billion only two weeks ago, ending a months-long stoush. But State Ministers have declared more urgent action is needed, to boost aged care. “We’re having to put some of these older patients in a city hotel which we’ve turned into a transition care facility,” SA Health Minister Chris Picton said. “While the new deal reached at National Cabinet recently is good news for overall hospital funding, more still clearly needs to be done for aged care patients stuck in hospitals. We continue to call on the Federal Government to address this crisis that is their responsibility.”