Aged-care CEO slams govt cuts

Narrogin Cottage Homes chief executive Julie Christensen has lashed out at the Gillard Government’s Living Better Living Longer reform at a Senate inquiry into aged care.

During hearings in Perth on April 29, the Senate’s Community Affairs committee heard from WA-based aged-care providers.

Mrs Christensen told the inquiry that the Gillard Government’s funding changes were having a devastating impact on the Wheatbelt.

“After the package was implemented on July 1 last year, an immediate impact was felt with cuts to the Government’s funding tool. As well, the failure to provide any annual increase in line with CPI meant there has been a reduction in income available to rural providers,” she said.

“We’ve also seen an increase in wages, an increase in consumables and an increase in tradespeople.”

The Living Longer Living Better aged care reform promised $3.7 billion over five years and was touted by the Government to provide more support and care in the home, better access to residential care, more support for those with dementia and a strengthening of the aged-care workforce.

But Mrs Christensen said the package amount equated to a $500 million funding cut to aged-care services, and the Senate inquiry was called because the industry was at breaking point.

She claimed many care providers risked closure, possibly within the next 12 months, and those in the industry were “tired, disillusioned and frustrated” for the people they cared for.

“We run at a cost-neutral scenario as a not-for-profit organisation, so any income losses at this point can only flow through to our salaries and wages,” she said.

“About 75 per cent of our expenditure is salaries and wages with other components related to support services, such as catering, laundry, cleaning, repairs and maintenance and tradespeople.

“We’ve already spent the last couple of years streamlining our ancillary costs to as low as they can possibly go.”

Liberal Senator for WA Dean Smith said the clear message from those appearing before the committee was that the Gillard Government appeared deaf to the concerns of WA.

The Department of Health did not respond to queries from the Narrogin Observer in time for print.