Rapid response team to assess elderly people waiting for govt assistance

A new mobile Rapid Response Team will be set up to help older Australians who have been waiting to be assessed for vital government funded aged care, the Federal Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, announced on 17 March.

The $250,000 pilot is part of a $1 million boost to cut assessment waiting times for older Australians in ‘black spots’.

To gain access to aged care services, a person must usually be assessed by an Aged Care Assessment Team.

The rapid response team is expected to target far northern NSW and northern Sydney. It will then move to other priority areas across Australia.

One of the worst affected areas is Manly-Warringah where there can be a wait of up to 13 months for an assessment to access a community care package.

In other parts of the state – Hornsby, Sydney’s eastern suburbs and far North Coast NSW – people are waiting up to three months.

The new Rapid Response Team is headed by an experienced assessment team manager with nursing qualifications who is supported by aged care experts/allied health workers.

It is the first stage of the Rudd Government’s response to a national review of Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACATS) begun by the previous government.

“Frail older Australians deserve to be assessed quickly so they can get appropriate aged care and help,” Mrs Elliot said.

“The sooner people are assessed the sooner they can get help – it is as simple as that.

“It is unacceptable that aged-care residential beds are vacant and community packages are not being used while people are waiting for assessment.”

An implementation plan based on the recommendations in the National Review of Aged Care Assessment Teams report is being developed in consultation with the states and territories.

Recommendations being adopted include:

Improve the way people are prioritised for assessment;
Improve public awareness of the role of ACATS and how to gain access to them;
Reduce administrative burdens on the teams so they can put patient solutions first;
Increased information sharing and networking between teams around the country;
A national training strategy for ACATs; and
Nationally consistent performance benchmarks.

This will be followed by the deployment of more aged care assessors to help with the backlog of aged care assessments.

“We expect that this work will be mirrored in areas of need in Queensland and I will be encouraging cooperation across the country as part of the COAG priorities for reform,” Mrs Elliot said.

The National Review of Aged Care Assessment Teams report, which was commissioned under COAG leadership, can be viewed on the Department of Health and Ageing’s web site at:

http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-acat-national-review-acat-consultancy-2007.htm