General News
25 January, 2024
New aged care service providers set to take on council-vacated in-home care
Four new providers have been appointed to deliver in-home aged care services to more than 500 residents in the Central Goldfields Shire from March onwards. In August last year, the Maryborough-based council decided to axe its aged care services in...
Four new providers have been appointed to deliver in-home aged care services to more than 500 residents in the Central Goldfields Shire from March onwards.
In August last year, the Maryborough-based council decided to axe its aged care services in the region, in response to the planned introduction of the Commonwealth Government’s new model of care — Support at Home program.
The national reform will impact the amount of funding available to Central Goldfields Shire Council (CGSC) for the administration of those services, with the potential of making it unsustainable and not financially viable.
Bridging that gap and ensuring continuity of care, the state and federal governments have now appointed new in-home aged and community-based service providers for around 630 clients in the shire.
Maryborough District Health Service (MDHS), mecwacare and Uniting AgeWell have been named as the providers for the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) for people over the age of 65 — locally, about 550 residents use this service.
“We are very pleased to be able to take on additional services to support our community and connect them to great care,” MDHS CEO Nickola Allan said.
Additionally, Intereach has been named as the new provider for the Home and Community Care Program for Younger People (HACC PYP).
These organisations will provide services that could include domestic assistance, personal care, in-home flexible respite care, meals on wheels, home maintenance and modification as well as social support programs.
Mayor Liesbeth Long said it was fantastic to have the new providers confirmed and that the focus was now on supporting clients as they transitioned away.
“We’re committed to making this period of transition as seamless as possible for our residents and we want to reassure our clients that they will continue to receive the services that they need,” she said.
“Our team will support you to move across and are here to answer any questions you may have.”
As part of the transition process, people currently receiving services will receive a letter in the mail with details of their allocated provider.
This letter will also ask for consent, authorising council to share the client’s information with the provider.
“People need to give us permission to pass on their details to the provider we’ve matched them with,” CGSC CEO Lucy Roffey said.
“Once they’ve done that, the provider in question will get in touch with them and send them all the information about their service.
“It’s important to remember that not all providers deliver all the services so we have tried to match people according to their needs — we are trying, as much as we can, to make sure that everything is with one provider to make it easier.”
Although the shire will no longer directly provide services after February 29, council staff will continue to follow up with residents who require assistance.
“We will keep chasing clients who haven’t sent us the necessary forms back even after February,” Ms Roffey said.
“There will still be staff around to make sure that no one falls through the gaps. We’re also going to be around in case anybody needs any information or advice about their providers.
“The whole point of the new program and reform is that if clients don’t like their provider, they will be able to switch to another one. It might, however, mean that they’re placed on a waitlist.
But we can help provide clarity on issues like that and assist our residents in navigating the system.”
Under the reformed Support at Home model, clients are also more likely to get a broader offering of services and Ms Roffey anticipates that into the future, the market will continue to get more competitive — leading to providers expanding their facilities, to the benefit of consumers.
However, while clients may be reassured, these recent changes have added uncertainty for employees previously working with council as part of its aged-care service team.
“Since we made the announcement [to discontinue services], we have been working with all [26] staff members to support them either by offering redeployment within the organisation or by helping them with our out-placement services,” Ms Roffey said.
“Some of our staff have already moved to other employers and we’ll keep supporting the rest.”