Nursing home residents forced into hospital
A shortage of aged care doctors is forcing nursing home residents to remain in hospital emergency departments.
Findings from a Catholic Health Australia Survey conducted in April 2010 point to a hole in the recruitment of aged care doctors.
“The national GP shortage means some older Australians are missing out on seeing a doctor in their home, and instead have to be admitted to hospital,” CHA chief executive officer, Martin Laverty said.
The Survey of Access to General Practice (GP) Services in Residential Aged Care found 57% of aged care home respondents had on occasion transferred residents to emergency departments (EDs) because of a doctor shortage. Up to 18% said they had to ‘fairly frequently’ or ‘regularly’.
“It’s not the fault of those hard working doctors who do visit aged care homes. It’s the consequence of not planning years ago for medical shortages as the nation’s population ages,” he said.
“There are not enough doctors to meet the needs of older Australians who live in residential aged care. Alarmingly, many of the committed doctors who do work in aged care are themselves approaching retirement – which will soon make the shortfall worse.”
Access to doctors after-hours is also a major concern. Many residents were unable to continue seeing their existing GPs after moving into residential aged care.
“Aged care homes and doctors need to put solutions to Government as part of the ongoing health reform process to ensure more doctors are encouraged to take up roles in caring for aged care residents,” Mr Laverty said.
The full survey is available at http://www.cha.org.au/submissions
