Page 4078 - Week 15 - Thursday, 17 December 1992
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increase expected at Eabrai Lodge, until the financial arrangements for funding dementia units are drastically changed I doubt that we will see additional places become available. In the meantime many people who suffer from dementia are inappropriately housed in hostel and nursing homes, and organisations like Brindabella Gardens run dementia units at a heavy loss.
As I have said, one of the major barriers to the provision of adequate residential care for dementia sufferers is the way in which funding is provided from the Commonwealth Government. The Brindabella Gardens board of management has informed the committee that at least 25 staff hours per week are required to care for an aged person suffering from dementia. This is equivalent to the second highest level of care required for a nursing home resident. The cost per day is $95, but the Commonwealth subsidy and resident contribution amount to only $55 per day. Brindabella Gardens board of management has suggested a more cost-effective way of caring for dementia sufferers. This proposal will allow for respite care for dementia sufferers, which the committee believes is crucial for both the dementia sufferer and, in some cases more importantly, for the carers as well. I refer members to chapter 9 of our report. Therefore, the committee has included recommendations that the ACT Government pursue with the Commonwealth the need for changes to the current funding arrangements for dementia specific units to make them more cost effective, therefore allowing for more dementia beds in the ACT.
Madam Speaker, I now turn briefly to the subject of respite and crisis care accommodation in the ACT. There are currently 17 hostel respite care beds and five nursing home respite care beds made available. There are also three additional respite care beds available in ward 11A of Woden Valley Hospital. Madam Speaker, as I have already said, carers are in need of support, as well as the people they care for. For this reason respite care is essential. There are times when carers are temporarily unable to cope with the stress involved - they need a break, they need to care for other members of the family, or they may have to go away for a short period. There is no doubt, after receiving evidence from the Salvation Army, who operate the Crisis Care Centre, Burrangirri, in Rivett, that an increase in the availability of both crisis and respite care facilities is urgently required. As our recommendation suggests, a facility similar to Burrangirri, situated on the north side of Canberra, would go towards offering badly needed services in this area.
I must now turn to the question of nursing home beds. As I do this, it is very important to note that only a very small proportion of our aged population become our frail aged in need of nursing home care in their final years. This is, however, a subject of some concern within our community. The Aged Services Association of New South Wales and the ACT Incorporated advised the committee:
The ACT appears well served in hostel accommodation and will be extremely well served in this area come December 1993 when an additional 220 hostel beds come on stream. The real need is for additional nursing home accommodation to meet the demand.
Canberra is an attractive place in which to live and it was suggested to the committee on several occasions that a comparatively high number of elderly people come to Canberra to be near their families. However, this high inwards population migration pattern has not been recognised by the Commonwealth when it determines the ACT's allocation of nursing home beds. The ACT Council
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