The President of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Steve Hambleton, has warned that proposed aged care reforms will not deliver their desired outcomes because the Government and key stakeholders are not placing a high enough priority on the medical care needs of older Australians.

 

Dr Hambleton said that the aged care debate today was too much about bricks and mortar and not enough about flesh and blood.

 

“The health needs of older Australians are not being given top priority,” Dr Hambleton said. “The human dimension of aged care is an afterthought for policymakers.”

 

Dr Hambleton said that the 2012 National Aged Care Conference being held in Adelaide today and tomorrow is being promoted as a forum to share ideas around the Government’s Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package.

 

“But there is one big idea that is missing from the Conference agenda,” Dr Hambleton said.

 

“There will be no discussion about securing medical and nursing services for older Australians who are living independently or in residential aged care facilities.

 

“The Living Longer Living Better package gives medical care little attention. The package has funding for medical practitioners to make a more timely diagnosis of dementia, and for palliative care, but the amount of funding for these services is yet to be specified.

 

“The Minister for Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, declined a recent AMA invitation to convene a group of medical and nursing experts to provide him with specific advice on how to direct this funding to ensure medical and nursing care for older Australians who can't make the trip to the surgeries and clinics where these services are provided.

 

“The Minister must recognise that older people are at risk of adverse outcomes if they become housebound and socially isolated and their access to medical and nursing services is inadequate.

 

“It is critical that aged care policy covers access to medical and nursing support services, and there must be appropriate Medicare rebates that recognise the additional work and complexity in providing high quality medical care outside the doctor's surgery.

 

“People should not have lesser access to quality health care just because they are getting old.”