SA Health has partnered with a leading aged care provider to create 15 new specialised dementia beds for patients unnecessarily stuck in hospital waiting for an aged care bed.
The partnership with HammondCare frees up hospital beds by bringing online 15 new additional care awaiting placement beds at The Repat for patients living with dementia, who would otherwise remain in hospital awaiting discharge.
This comes as new Productivity Commission data shows South Australians face the longest delays into aged care in the country putting pressure on hospitals, and a new project commences to rapidly address ways to help unblock this problem.
Hospitals across Adelaide now have access to these 15 new beds – located within HammondCare’s recently opened care home at the Repat Health Precinct.
A recent audit of bed capacity across the local health networks found approximately 45 hospital inpatients were ready for discharge at any one time but remained in hospital waiting for a suitable dementia specific bed in a residential aged care home.
HammondCare specialises in providing care for people with differing levels of dementia. However, patients occupying these new beds will remain under the care of the referring local health networks until a longer-term placement is secured.
The Repat provides support and health care for older people and this partnership is one of many SA Health initiatives to increase capacity and improve patient flow.
Further construction works are already well underway at the Repat Health Precinct, including a new purpose built 26-bed Geriatric Evaluation and Management (GEM) Unit, as well as a major refurbishment to deliver six beds for the Complex and Restorative (CARE) Service. The CARE Service will provide same day hospital-level care for older people, helping to avoid the emergency department.
These new 15 dementia beds will help free up hospital capacity, as latest data shows ambulances spent 3,960 hours ramped in January, a 10 per cent increase from December’s 3,595 hours but 8 per cent down on November’s 4,285 hours.
In January, 46 per cent of patients were transferred from the ambulance into hospital within 30 minutes – meaning they weren’t ramped – compared to only 41 per cent in January 2022.
The latest Productivity Commission Report on Government Services 2022-2023 released this week shows South Australians are waiting the longest in the nation to enter aged care beds and receive home care aged care packages.
South Australians wait the longest in the country for receiving a home care package following Aged Care Assessment Team approval, with the 90th percentile at 193 days.
Our median wait time for entry into an aged care bed following ACAT approval is the highest in the nation at 252 days.
This has an inevitable impact on patients stuck in public hospital beds waiting for aged care beds, contributing to bed blockages.
The rate of hospital patient days used by eligible South Australians stuck waiting for aged care beds was 19.7 bed days in 2021-22 – the second highest rate in Australia and an increase from 18.1 bed days the year prior.
This comes as a new rapid piece of work has been commissioned to unblock discharges for patients in our hospital beds for more than three weeks. One component of this will specifically work to identify solutions for patients who experience delays in transferring to appropriate aged care facilities and how we can support families through the process.
The Malinauskas Government will this year open 150 new inpatient beds which will help improve patient flow and reduce bed-block which contributes to ramping.
Transfer of Care data – including a hospital-by-hospital breakdown – can be found here.
As put by Chris Picton
People with dementia shouldn’t be stuck in hospital longer than they need to waiting for an aged care bed. It’s not good for them and it’s not good for the health system.
These new dementia beds at The Repat will bridge the gap from hospital to longer-term care in the community.
They will support our patients living with dementia to get the right care in a more suitable environment, while freeing up hospital beds for others.
We are doing everything we can to improve hospital flow and create more capacity which is key to helping reduce ramping.
We have committed to building an additional 550 beds across our health system to improve patient flow and reduce bed-block which contributes to ramping.
This year alone, 150 new inpatient beds will open at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Flinders Medical Centre, the Repat and Lyell McEwin Hospital.
As put by Department for Health and Wellbeing Chief Executive Officer Dr Robyn Lawrence
Often what delays discharge from hospital is a lack of available long-term dementia care options.
Our goal always is to ensure our patients are in the right facilities for them. No one wants to be in hospital – especially when they do not need to be.
These new beds will provide care in a much more comfortable environment where patients can recover further and give more time to find the right, long-term care. This partnership with HammondCare will also support us to provide more capacity across our hospitals.
As put by HammondCare Head of Service Development Samantha Arnold
As part of serving people living with dementia in South Australia, it’s our privilege to provide these 15 care awaiting placement places. People with dementia are best supported in environments that are home-like and familiar, and often find hospital environments particularly uncomfortable.
Our team looks forward to providing relationship-based dementia care for these residents in our cottages featuring a domestic kitchen, access to outdoors, dementia design features supporting independence, and a small caring team.
At the same time, we’re pleased this makes room for patients needing acute care in hospital. It’s a win-win for both groups.
