Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) and Aged & Community Services of Tasmania (ACST) call on the major parties to re-instate cuts to aged care funding so older Tasmanians can continue to receive quality care and services.
There are over 1 million frail older Australians, and they deserve a voice, they deserve to get the support they need, they are not invisible.
The Federal Government’s recent budget slashed $1.2 billion from aged care. This will directly impact the care of residents.
Aged care needs more funding and more staffing, not less. According to modeling conducted by ACST when the full impact of the cuts hits residential aged care the state could lose $25-30 million in funding for the care of residents and up to 750 workers.
At a time when we should be building and developing the workforce of the future we are faced with losing skilled nurses and care workers and allied health programs.
Mrs Neroli Ellis, ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary states, “The aged care sector is experiencing unprecedented demand for services alongside constraints in government funding which influences their ability to meet client needs in the setting of increasing costs of care and the moral obligation to provide residents with quality care and staff with safe working environments.”
Federal budget 2016/7 introduced significant changes to the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) used to assess the base-line level of public funding for the care of individual residents.
The Budget Papers conclude the changes to ACFI will lead to a reduction of $1,152m in ACFI related funding over next four financial years. These cuts follow on from $607m in cuts announced in Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook last year. In total, close to $1.8b cuts to aged care funding is forecast over the next 4 years.
The government states that these changes will affect only new and reclassified patients but the ANMF asserts that most frail residents with high care needs, and those with developing health conditions and co-morbidities are also likely to be affected. Most of these residents will report increasing acuity in the near term. As frailty of all residents increases over time, a high proportion of existing residents are likely to be affected as residents are reclassified.
“These budget cuts will have a significant negative impact on the care of residents in aged care facilities; particularly those with high care needs into the future.”
“Continuing cuts to the sector have stretched services to the limit and placed incredible strain on the aged care workforce”, states Mrs Neroli Ellis, ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary.
Home care also needs significantly more resourcing from Government, particularly in this period of intense reform and major changes to the way services are delivered to clients
ACST CEO Darren Mathewson pointed to the results of a recent nationwide survey, focusing on the values of Australians, with care for the elderly at the top of the list.
“People are clearly concerned about the care and services being provided to older Australians. It’s time the major parties actually listened to the people.
Our services and their workforce are doing a fantastic job under extremely difficult conditions. These cuts will impact on the level of care and support that can be provided to residents. They need to stop and our politicians need to realign their values”
ACST and ANMF will strongly advocate on behalf of older Tasmanians for a quality aged care system.
ANMF will also be holding a ‘Phone In’ for aged care on Saturday 18th June for anyone who wants to tell his or her story.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation
