35 new transitional care beds represent just 8% of bed closures in the Illawarra: Warrigal CEO

The NSW State and Federal Government’s announcement last week that it will fund an additional 35 Transition Care Programme places in the Illawarra/Shoalhaven won’t be enough to solve residential aged care shortages in the region, Warrigal Acting Chief Executive Officer Alissa Walsh told The SOURCE.

While she welcomes the additional beds, Alissa said 405 beds have closed recently in the region and Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District hospitals have 110 older people i

n its beds. 

The 35 new beds funded by the Government in the announcement “is not going to solve the issue on its own,” Alissa said. “Much more needs to be done.”

Alissa listed financial sustainability, workforce shortages, and catering to a population with large numbers of people living with dementia as the key challenges.

Another challenge is the fact that many aged care providers in the region are small, standalone operations. “They don’t necessarily have the size or the economies of scale to deliver everything that’s required in aged care,” Alissa said. 

Home care services in the Illawarra/Shoalhaven also have problems. “There are not enough places in home care even though the government has released more, it’s not enough for the demand.

“And staffing is an issue there, too.” 

Though still “committed to residential”, in the short to medium term, Not For Profit Warrigal, which operates in the Illawarra, Southern Highlands, Queanbeyan and Canberra, is looking to focus its expansion on retirement living, where home care services can be delivered, and will add about 200 places for older people to live. 

“The government and consumers and the community are calling for the ability to stay at home for longer, to receive services where people choose to live in their own home,” Alissa said.

In line with this strategy, Warrigal Shell Cove aged care precinct, 112km south of Sydney and 30km south of Wollongong, is in the final stage of development.

The SOURCE: The Illawarra/Shoalhaven is a microcosm of what is happening around the country in the regions. Operators are turning to retirement living with home care services, the continuum of care model, as more financially sustainable and with less regulatory pressure.