Govt urged to pump money into aged care
February 3, 2010
AAP
The number of Australians aged 85 and older who will need access to nurses is expected to reach 400,000 by 2050, a lobby group says.
This is five times the number of people currently in this age group, according to the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF), which is making an early budget plea to increase funding to the aged care sector.
Some nursing homes have only one nurse for every 30 residents - and ANF federal secretary Ged Kearney said the ratio would only get worse.
"The government's projection that there will be 1.8 million people aged 85+ by 2050 will mean residents in this age group will increase from just over 87,000 today to more than 400,000 by 2050," she said in a statement on Wednesday.
Ms Kearney said high need residents will suffer if there is only one nurse for every 30, 60, 90 or 120 residents.
She warned that without the right number of aged care workers and nurses, high need residents will flood hospital emergency departments and place extra stress on the health system.
"Budget 2010 provides a real opportunity for the federal government to stop the long-term slide in the number of carers and nurses working in aged care," MS Kearney said.
Nurses were leaving the aged care sector because they are being paid, on average, $300 a week less than nurses in the public hospital sector, she said.
© 2010 AAPSOURCE: SMH.COM
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