Sunday, 26 August 2018
Waiting for home care in Australia in 2018
There are now 108,000 older Australians on the
waiting list for Home Care Packages.
On this list
are individuals who have:
*
not yet been approved for home care;
*
been previously assessed and approved, but who have not yet been assigned a
home care package; or
* are receiving care at an interim level
awaiting assignment of a home care package at their approved level.
Waiting time
is calculated from the date of a home care package approval and this is not a
an ideal situation, given package approval times range from est. 27 to 98 days
and the time taken to approve high level home care packages is now than twelve
months - with actual delivery dates occurring at least 12 months later on average.
Labor’s Shadow
Minister for Ageing and Mental Health issued a statement which pointed out that
“With
the waiting list growing by almost 4,000 older Australians in just three
months, the 3,500 new home care packages a year committed in the Budget won’t
come close to keeping pace with demand”.
With more
than half the applications for permanent entry into residential aged care taking
more than 3 and up to 8 months to be met, this is not going to be a go-to first
option in any solution for this lengthy home care waiting list - even if enough older people could be persuaded to give up the last of their independnce and autonomy.
By June 2017
New South Wales had the largest number of persons on the home care waiting
lis at 30,685.
Given the
high number of residents over 60 years of age in regional areas like the the
Northern Rivers, this waiting list gives pause for thought.
Then there is
this side effect of the waiting list and home care start dates identified by Leading
Age Care Services Australia (LAGSA):
Consumers with unmet
needs and unspent funds
LASA has undertaken an extensive review of the
disparity that exists in the current release of HCP assignments, noting that
there are substantial numbers of consumers on HCPs with either unmet needs or unspent
funds . This bimodal distribution of home care package assignments reflects a
mismatch between consumer package assignment and a consumer’s current care
needs. The mismatch appears to be a function of the extended lapse of time that
exists between approval assessments and package assignments. Until this dynamic
is sufficiently addressed by Government, LASA expects that providers will be
faced with a unique set challenges in 2018 when providing care to HCP
consumers. This is likely to increase the need for regular care plan reviews in
the context of unmet needs and unspent funds. This dynamic could be considered
more closely within the context of developing a single assessment workforce.
Thus far Australian Minister for Aged Care and Liberal MP for Hasluck Ken
Wyatt is offering no insight into federal government thinking on this
issue.
Sources:
The American Resistance has many faces and this is just one of them……(23)
 |
| Image: C-Span US television network |
Text
of open letter to US President Donald J.
Trump by William H. McRaven, a
retired Navy admiral, who was commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations
Command from 2011 to 2014. He oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that
killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Published in The Washington Post on 16 August
2018:
Dear
Mr. President:
Former CIA Director John
Brennan, whose security clearance you revoked Wednesday, is one of the finest
public servants I have ever known. Few Americans have done more to protect this
country than John. He is a man of unparalleled integrity, whose honesty and
character have never been in question, except by those who don’t know him.
Therefore, I would
consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I
can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your
presidency.
Like most Americans, I
had hoped that when you became president, you would rise to the occasion and
become the leader this great nation needs.
A good leader tries to
embody the best qualities of his or her organization. A good leader sets the
example for others to follow. A good leader always puts the welfare of others
before himself or herself.
Your leadership,
however, has shown little of these qualities. Through your actions, you have
embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage
and, worst of all, divided us as a nation.
If you think for a
moment that your McCarthy-era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism,
you are sadly mistaken. The criticism will continue until you become the leader
we prayed you would be.
Saturday, 25 August 2018
Who do we blame as matters go from bad to worse over the next eight months in Australia?
The country is being crippled by the effects of drought and basic food prices will soon begin to rise, while at the same time wages growth remains stagnant. Cost cutting by successive Coalition federal governments is impacting service delivery on everything from health and welfare through to national broadband connectivity.
The federal government is still a policy-free zone with regard to energy and climate change due to toxic infighting between members of the Liberal Party of Australia which, along with its coalition partner the National Party, has an ideological inability to drag itself into the 21st century to face the consequences of ongoing land degradation and water insecurity.
Australia now has a new prime minister, but this situation is unlikely to change as the hard right remains holding the reins of government.
The next federal election is still over eight months away.
So who do we blame for the situation the country finds itself in between now and the election?
Take your pick.......
According to News.com.au this is the list of federal parliamentary members of the Liberal Party of Australia who voted to bring on the leadership
spill of 24 August 2018:
1.
Andrew Hastie
2. Tony
Pasin
3.
Craig Kelly
4.
Michael Sukkar
5.
Kevin Andrews
6. Tony
Abbott
7. Ian
Goodenough
8.
Nicolle Flint
9.
Peter Dutton
10.
Jason Wood
11.
Ross Vasta
12.
Luke Howarth
13.
Rick Wilson
14. Ted
O’Brien
15. Zed
Seselja
16 Greg
Hunt
17
Steven Ciobo
18
Angus Taylor
19 Alan
Tudge
20.
Michael Keenan
21
Andrew Wallace
22
Scott Buchholz
23 Jim
Molan
24
Slade Brockman
25 Dean
Smith
26 Jane
Hume
27
Mitch Fifield
28.
John McVeigh
29.
David Fawcett
30.
Amanda Stoker
31.
Jonathon Duniam
32.
David Bushby
33.
James Paterson
34 Eric
Abetz
35.
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells
36.
James McGrath
37.
Mathias Cormann
38.
Michaelia Cash
39.
Karen Andrews
40. Andrew Laming
41 Ben Morton
42. Sussan Ley
43. Warren Entsch
Sadly the Joke of the Decade was on the Australian people
"I will not
lead a party that is not as committed to effective action on climate change as
I am." [Liberal
Party leader Malcolm Bligh Turnbull,
October 2009]
Tweet of the Week
So far what grade do you give Donald Trump as president. retweet everyone.......— Trump Administration Supporter (@Robfortrump2020) August 15, 2018
Friday, 24 August 2018
Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan tries to straddle the Coalition fence by becoming a Faux Independent after the new Morrison Government is sworn-in
The political situation in Australia thus far this week..............
Thinking to hedge his bets in a toxic political environment and remain in the federal parliament beyond the forthcoming federal election, Kevin Hogan sent out this media release on 23 August 2018:You can't get any more blunt than @murpharoo's assessment of #libspill -— News Breakfast (@BreakfastNews) August 22, 2018
"The Government is killing itself in plain view ... It doesn't matter who wins because they're stuffed" pic.twitter.com/1HazIUyd06
STATEMENT FROM KEVIN
HOGAN
This constant rotation
of Prime Ministers by both the Labor Party and the Liberal party, I cannot
condone.
I am announcing
today, that if there is another leadership spill for the position of Prime
Minister prior to the next federal election, I will remove myself from the
government benches and sit on the cross benches.
I have made this
decision because my community is fed up. What we have been seeing in
Canberra with leadership changes over the last 10 years, is letting our
great country down.
This is not about Peter
Dutton, Malcolm Turnbull or Kevin Hogan, it is about the Office of Prime
Minister.
I remain 100 per cent
committed to delivering for my community. I remain committed to the National
Party.
If this occurs, I will
still attend National Party meetings if invited. I will not attend Coalition
Party Room meetings.
I will support the
Government in No Confidence Motions and Supply. Any other legislation I
will take on a case by case basis.
The model I intend
to follow is similar to what the Western Australian National, Tony Crook did.
Hogan has been in the federal parliament and a member of the Abbott & Turnbull Coalition governments for almost five years and in that time has never voted against Liberal-Nationals party policy.
What Hogan is doing with this media release is taking a hollow stance.
He fully intends to support the new Liberal Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Nationals Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.
An arrogant new prime minister with a history since 2013 of human rights abuses as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, of welfare recipient bashing as Minister for Social Services, of relentless cost cutting as Treasurer and as a strong supporter of propping up the rich at the expense of low income families.
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