Life and death on the waitlist

An 86-year-old Adelaide Hills man has tragically personified the problem's surrounding assessments in the aged care system, requesting euthanasia under SA's Voluntary Assisted Dying laws rather than continue to wait for in-home care.

Cyril Tooze was approved for a Level 4 Home Care Package (high-level care) at the beginning of this year, however, due to ongoing sector issues, no care has been provided.

Now weighing just 42kgs, Mr Tooze is in hospital with terminal heart and lung problems, and with no close family to provide care in his last days, as he told The Australian "this is no life, there is no dignity.”

Member for Mayo Rebekha Sharkie, who has brought attention to Mr Tooze's case and is a regular campaigner for better aged care in her electorate, has reportedly written to Aged Care Minister Anika Wells in regards to the unacceptable lengths of care waitlists, referencing Anglicare Australia's 'Life on the Waitlist' report, released last month.

Anglicare’s acting executive director Maiy Azize said the wait list for care has blown out to double what it was just one year ago.

“Our findings show that the Government’s funding boost for care at home can’t come soon enough,” Ms Azize said.

"People are facing excruciating waits to get the care they’re entitled to – time they simply don’t have.

“Some are forced to wait so long that their condition worsens, and they get pushed into residential care before they’re ready. Others end up in hospital as they try to cope with daily life without the help they need.

“These Australians are eagerly awaiting the Government’s new Support at Home program. We congratulate the Government for taking action that is so badly needed. When the new program begins in July next year, it will be a game changer for older people across the country.

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“But with such a massive waiting list on the books now, we need to make sure people who have already been waiting for too long can get the help they need. We’re calling on the Government to release enough Home Care Packages to clear the wait list in its next mid-year Budget update.

“That will set the new system up for success, stopping it from inheriting a rapidly growing wait list before it even starts. And it will stop older people from spending more time they don’t have waiting for care without any other support. This is a critical investment that will help more older Australians get the care they need, when they need it, where they need it.”

Unfortunately, Cyril Tooze's story is just one of the over 70,000 older Australians on the waitlist for in-home care, as outlined in Monday's Canberra hearing of the Senate Inquiry into the Aged Care Bill 2024.

The hearing was told that, as of 30 September, the number of people who have been assessed for home care but are waiting to receive it has hit 76,000. This is up from the 68,000 older Australians waiting in May of this year; a 12 per cent increase in just four months.

Home and Residential Division first assistant secretary Thea Connolly informed the committee that the current wait time for a Home Care Package is five and half months. However, there are reports of individuals waiting much longer.

CEO of National Seniors Australia (NSA) Chris Grice has called the wait times "appalling."

“This month marks six years since the establishment of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. During NSA’s appearances before the Commission, we described the crisis with the home care wait list as a “running sore” with more than 128,000 older Australians waiting for much needed support at home,” Mr Grice said.

“The waitlist for Home Care Packages has surged within the past sixteen months with around 47,000 more people on the waitlist since June 2023. The services and workforce needed to meet this demand clearly have to grow, especially if the government is to once again meet its own three-month target from 2027. The government achieved one – three months in early 2023, it can do it again.

“To have a situation where an older person with a terminal illness [Mr Tooze] applies to end his own life (using his state’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Scheme) because he understandably can’t wait any longer in pain and without care is appalling. NSA is grateful for his sharing his story and appreciates Ms Sharkie’s advocacy with the aim of ensuring home care receives sufficient resources, to reduce and avoid such lengthy delays.

“As the Royal Commission heard all those years ago, people were receiving approvals for care long after they were assessed, in some instances they died waiting. Everyone agreed it shouldn’t happen but here we are again, having them same conversation, about the same situation."

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