1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,200 Speaker 1: But let me take you across to another issue that 2 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:04,520 Speaker 1: has well and truly been on the agenda for quite 3 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: some time around the Northern Territory, and that is well 4 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: aged care and making sure that we've got enough beds. 5 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,080 Speaker 1: When it comes to age care, we know that age 6 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: care facilities have now moved to a new funding model 7 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:18,960 Speaker 1: which is based on their level of needs. Now it's 8 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: all in an effort to overhaul the system following a 9 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,759 Speaker 1: Royal commission into the sector. Joining me on the line 10 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: to tell us more about the situation is Sue Shira, 11 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: the CEO of Kota, the Council of the Aging here 12 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory. 13 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 2: Hi, Sue, Hi Katie. You nice to hear your dulced 14 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 2: tones again. 15 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: Lovely to hear yours as well. Now, Sue, tell me 16 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,479 Speaker 1: a little bit about these changes that have come into 17 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,839 Speaker 1: play when it comes to age care facilities moving to 18 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: that new funding models. 19 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 2: Probably it's an overview, really, it's not. I'd like to 20 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 2: say it's a really complete new model, but it's just 21 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 2: in Gibson DRAMs like the facilities get paid a certain 22 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 2: amount each day of care for a patient in their facilities. 23 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 2: So it's like it was two hundred and sixteen dollars 24 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 2: and eighty cents. It's now about two hundred and twenty five. 25 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 2: But this supposedly, I mean you can add that up yourself. 26 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 2: That's at the most probably not even ten dollars. So 27 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,680 Speaker 2: it supposedly better matches a resident care and needs and 28 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 2: it's a more equable distribution of funds across the residential 29 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 2: age care sector, but it's still a pittance. And you know, 30 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 2: and also later on that they'll have to have a 31 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 2: nurse ont at actually in the age care facility, which 32 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 2: is good, but then i'd say where the nurse is 33 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 2: going to come from. You probably heard that the Morrison 34 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 2: government had a secret report that they were going to 35 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 2: be one hundred thousand workers short in the age sector. 36 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 2: Kept that under wraps. I mean, that's what the age 37 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 2: you know, that's what the Royal Commission when it first 38 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 2: came out said. Anyway, so I'm really quite disgusted that 39 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 2: they keep those things under wrap. And really they hadn't 40 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 2: made any changes to the age care that they had 41 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 2: them there, but it wasn't important enough to bring them 42 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 2: on to change. Oh and the partialization and the new 43 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 2: government has which is good, but yeah. 44 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: Well, I mean it's disgraceful because you think to yourself, 45 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 1: if you don't know exactly what the issues are and 46 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: you're not prepared to be to be forward facing and 47 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: upfront about them, how do you expect any change to 48 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,959 Speaker 1: come into play? And you know we're talking about age 49 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: care places here. If you know, people have been paying 50 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,799 Speaker 1: their taxes their whole lives, they have been working their 51 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: whole lives. They deserve to be able to have a 52 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: place in age care if they need one. 53 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 2: Oh exactly. And I don't really like being derogatory to governments, 54 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 2: but the Morrison government just drip fed the age care 55 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 2: system for nine years. They're actually just dup fited. And 56 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 2: to keep we knew what the problem was and that's 57 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,959 Speaker 2: what we mentioned in Royal Commission and supposedly keep it 58 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 2: that report secret means we all knew and then again 59 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 2: to sit on it and not do anything about it. 60 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 2: They are entirely culpable for the shortage that we have now. 61 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 2: And it's just absolutely beyond belief and actually blows my 62 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 2: mind that you know, as I said, that drip fed 63 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 2: and even now that's why we're in the crisis that 64 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 2: we're in. 65 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: And so obviously, you know these changes that are now 66 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: going to come into play, they seem like they're going 67 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: to be a good thing. I guess. So what we're 68 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: still waiting for here in the Northern Territory is additional beds. 69 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: We know that quite some time back when we'd interviewed 70 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: the Chief Minister, Natasha Files when we're having well she 71 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: was then the Health Minister, when we're having issues with 72 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: the Code yellows and overcrowding at the hospitals, that there 73 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: had been quite a bit of discussion about aged careas 74 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: being forced to stay in hospital because there were no 75 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: other places for them. I believe that she'd said that 76 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: there were sixty new beds or that we've got funding 77 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: for sixty new beds. But how quickly do these need 78 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: to roll out? 79 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,040 Speaker 2: Well, they're still actually, which does take time. I mean 80 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 2: I commend them for doing that because a lot of 81 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 2: dementia patients as well, or in Royal da In Hospital 82 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 2: I had about sixty people. That's why the sixty beds. 83 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 2: But again, some of those people with dementia will have 84 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:32,919 Speaker 2: to still have to stay in Royal da On Hospital 85 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 2: because they are the age care facilities, no matter which 86 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:38,840 Speaker 2: ones they really just can't cope. Some of them are 87 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:44,159 Speaker 2: unfortunately rather aggressive, so it takes a specialized place to 88 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:48,599 Speaker 2: look after those people with that sort of aggressive dementia. 89 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 2: But sixty at the TV still being built. But there 90 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 2: is a dementia facility we believe being built out at 91 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 2: Palmerston Hospital. I think that's still on the cards. Cade. 92 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 2: I have to Dicheck that, you know, Katie, it's just 93 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,160 Speaker 2: a shame they were always catching up. Why can't we 94 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,919 Speaker 2: be proactive? We have had this problem, as I said, 95 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 2: for a long time. It's the federal government is responsible 96 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 2: for age care and they assume that people will have 97 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:19,479 Speaker 2: a home to age in. These people a lot of 98 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 2: these people haven't got a home that we're in the 99 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 2: Royal day On Hospital, so they can't go home and 100 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 2: get an age care package. So they do need somewhere 101 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 2: to stay. So the federal government has to realize that 102 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 2: they are way behind the eight ball in supplying beds 103 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 2: and also with the bed licensing system that age care 104 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 2: facilities put in for beds and then they're allocated. We 105 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,920 Speaker 2: don't believe that should be it. Hopefully that the person 106 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 2: who needs an agecare facility a bit like NDA is 107 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 2: they will get the funding and they can pick where 108 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 2: they want to go because at the moment they're just 109 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 2: sitting around waiting for a bed to become ad Unfortunately, 110 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 2: it's a high cost area and beds, you know, and 111 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 2: I can't have two or three beds sitting vacant because 112 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 2: there's no money coming in. After all, a lot of 113 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,119 Speaker 2: them are businesses. That's another discussion, Katie, whether they should 114 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:20,480 Speaker 2: be profitable businesses or not. But that's the way when 115 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 2: it was privatized, John Howd privatized. That's the way it happens. 116 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,040 Speaker 2: There's quite a few more things that need to happen, Katie. 117 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: Sounds that way, so well. Please keep us up to 118 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: date as things do progress. We really appreciate your time 119 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: this morning, as always, have a lovely, lovely day on 120 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: this very wet territory morning. 121 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 2: It is, it's come early, it's lovely. Actually, you don't 122 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,599 Speaker 2: mind at all. You take care Katie, you too. 123 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: Thanks Sue.