Illawarra aged care providers are poised to fly in staff from Perth and Brisbane in an attempt to quickly open up extra beds and move elderly patients out of the region's overburdened hospital wards.
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Outgoing Warrigal CEO Mark Sewell said the Illawarra Shoalhaven was facing one of the worst aged care bed shortages in the country, with more than 250 beds lost in the northern part of the region over the past two years.
"We're definitely one of the worst affected areas," he said.
Currently, there are 104 hospital beds occupied by patients waiting for a bed in aged care, down from 124 last month.
Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District chief Margot Mains has repeatedly outlined that this is one of the reasons for long waits in the Wollongong Hospital emergency department, as other patients can't get a bed in the full wards.
Mr Sewell, who has been involved in cross-agency talks with the health district, federal and state MPs and the local Primary Health District, said the region had lost hundreds of aged care places in Warilla, North Wollongong, Bulli and Thirroul since 2020.
He also said there were about 150 free beds - in Unanderra and Dapto - that were unable to be operated due to funding constraints.
The reasons for this were complex, he said, but included problems with the way aged care has been funded as well as the widespread staffing shortage in the sector.
"Someone who is in a hospital bed gets combined state and federal funding of about $1200 to $1500 a day to provide their care," he said.
"If they seek a transfer to an aged care home, it's the same person with the same needs, and on top of that there's an expectation that they'll have dining rooms and outings and recreational needs and physio, and the funding drops to about $300 a day.
"So, many aged care providers just can't operate the bed, because if you can't get enough staff and you're forced to hire agency staff, then the staff costs to operate that bed far exceed the funding levels.
"Providers - especially the smaller ones who are already precarious - can't operate beds at gross deficits."
Mr Sewell said various parties in the Illawarra has been working together for months to find a solution, with a special, region-specific short term funding package from the federal government expected to make an impact.
He said the Department of Health and Aged Care had agreed to fund extra costs for Illawarra operators to open up and fast fill any available beds, as long as they take people from hospital.
Mr Sewell said Warrigal, one of four providers currently participating in this "fast fill" program, had taken about 20 people from hospital in the past two weeks thanks to the extra funds.
"We're trying to find the agency staff and clinical nurses to also offer another 38 beds across our Illawarra homes - they are being reserved for those people in hospital and we are ready to go on Monday if we can find those staff," he said.
"We're flying them in from Perth and Brisbane, and we're going to have to put them in accommodation. But the Commonwealth has agreed to fund those costs through this fast fill aged care surge staff funding."
Mr Sewell said the region would continue to collaborate to free up more aged care places with "fast fill" funding available until December, with weekly meetings scheduled for providers to discuss availability.
He also hoped a new federal funding system due to kick in this October would help keep existing aged care beds open.
"We've got one of the biggest problems in the country, but we also have one of the best collaborations here in the Illawarra," he said.
He credited local politicians, especially federal MPs Stephen Jones and Alison Byrnes, as well as Ms Mains from the local health district for their work in recent months.
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