Council & Business
15 December, 2022
“Distressing” loss of Pyrenees in-home aged care services
The Pyrenees Shire Council has decided to scrap the direct delivery of its in-home aged care services amidst changing Federal Government support for the sector. Councillors moved to cease the delivery of the service at Tuesday’s ordinary council...
The Pyrenees Shire Council has decided to scrap the direct delivery of its in-home aged care services amidst changing Federal Government support for the sector.
Councillors moved to cease the delivery of the service at Tuesday’s ordinary council meeting, following an extensive review of the service and community consultation about its future.
The issue arose earlier in the year with the government announcing the Support at Home Program, set to commence from July 2023, which will change the funding amounts currently allocated to councils through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme, while also shifting to a competitive model.
Delivery of the service cost $890,000 last financial year, with over $634,000 funded or claimable.
According to the report tabled to council at this week’s meeting, if council were to continue providing its in-home aged care support of residents without financial support from the government, a fee increase of more than 700 percent in each of the categories of flexible respite, personal care and group social support would fall to ratepayers to subsidise.
Introducing the motion that council cease its delivery of the service, councillor David Clark said it was a difficult decision to make.
“We’re not here willingly and that’s the reality,” he said.
“My mum was a home care worker for the Shire of Lexton for a number of years and certainly this is close to me in that sense of things.
“The next point is around capacity — what is our real capacity and have we got the capacity to be $100,000 more efficient? I don’t think we do.
“I kind of feel like I’ve got a gun against my head, I just don’t think there’s another decision we can make.”
As it stands, the Pyrenees Shire Council delivers care to 320 clients, making up over 15 percent of the over 65-year-old population, with 76 clients also participating in active ageing programs.
The report tabled at this week’s meeting showed that in the last financial year, council staff provided over 8600 hours of in-home care across domestic assistance, personal care and respite care, with 4631 meals delivered to residents.
Seconding Cr Clark’s motion, councillor Robert Vance noted that if the Pyrenees had a larger population base an in-home care model may be sustainable, however this wasn’t the case.
“I share Cr Clark’s sentiments wholly,” he said.
“There’s no guarantees in life, some of us reach a grand old age and some of us don’t but the one thing that is certain is that as you age, you require help.
“The thing that I’m grappling with is the fact that many other councils our size have seen the inevitable reality of this.
“As councillor Clark says, you go to Ballarat, Bendigo or the city suburbs and they’ve got thousands of clients they service and can cover but our chances of growing are, if we’re realists, pretty slim.”
All councillors voted in favour of scrapping the service with the exception of councillor Tanya Kehoe, who expressed her desire to continue the service if possible.
“This is an incredibly distressing item to be looking at because this is involving the most vulnerable members of our community,” she said.
“We also have probably the best home and care team in the world, if not in Australia and we know that from the comments we get from clients and the breadth of what that team do.
“We’ve looked at ways of wrangling funds and seeking government support and trying every means possible to be able to adequately continue this sort of service and it’s just weighing so heavily that it’s hurdle after hurdle to be able to do that.
“Very much I would like to continue this service and see where it’s going to go to but I also understand that to do that would be very difficult.”
As part of its decision on Tuesday, council pledged to assist staff who wish to remain in the sector in gaining employment, with an opportunity for staff members to also move to a role in coordinating an active ageing program.
Council currently employs 16 support staff and four indoor and administrative staff, some of whom were present for the decision.
Mayor Ron Eason spoke emotionally of the council’s support staff during the meeting, thanking them for their tireless work in providing care to residents.
“The uncertainty you (staff members) have been put through, I just admire you for staying the course,” he said.
“The clients out there give us such glowing reports of you, show us the care that you provide and it hurts me to think you will not be able to do that with us when we pass this recommendation.
“Be aware of the thanks of everyone at this table for what you’ve done for years — thank you.”
In making its decision, council also addressed the potential lack of viable alternative providers in rural and remote areas such as the Pyrenees, identifying that suitable providers are available to service the region through an expression of interest process.
According to council, this process has given the organisation confidence that there are a number of providers building the resources required to take on services where councils, like the Pyrenees, have chosen to exit.
“We will be working with the commonwealth and relevant agencies to ensure that alternative providers are available to deliver those most vulnerable members of our community in rural and remote areas,” Cr Eason said.
“Council will continue to support our elderly residents by developing broader active ageing and wellbeing initiatives for the community.”