WA country nursing home idea accepted by Federal Government

8/4/94

Health Minister Peter Foss says a good Western Australian idea, which will benefit hundreds of elderly people living in country areas, has finally been accepted and adopted by the Federal Government.

The breakthrough will give some of the rural aged, the chance to remain in nursing home care in their own community, rather than having to leave the area or go into hospital.

At the recent Health Ministers' Conference in Perth, the Federal Government agreed to pilot a scheme in six WA towns, to convert under-utilised wards in country hospitals into modern nursing home units.

"The original concept of converting under-utilised parts of rural hospitals for nursing home care, was born in WA's central wheatbelt area," Mr Foss said.

"Years ago, my colleague, the Member for Avon, Max Trenorden, and the Avon Community Development Foundation, came up with the proposal of unused wards being developed into purpose-designed nursing home units.

"However, it was an uphill struggle to persuade the Federal Government that it was a very good idea.

"The foundation found no support from the Federal Government and as Health Minister, even I had no success initially in persuading the Commonwealth that the idea had great merit.

"At every opportunity and during every discussion with the Commonwealth, I put forward the irrefutable logic of it, until finally, I won through.

"The Commonwealth's logic at resisting the proposal was ludicrous - they insisted that Federal funds would not be forthcoming for nursing home beds unless a nursing home in the country had an economic minimum of 40 beds.

"They also said that the more economic proposal of running the nursing home in conjunction with the hospital was unacceptable because the elderly would be 'institutionalised'.

"Most country towns cannot support 40 beds - this bizarre logic forced elderly people either to leave their communities for nursing home care elsewhere, or led to them being kept in acute hospital beds - quite inappropriate for people who are not sick, just elderly.

"Because most elderly people were unwilling to leave their community, they ended up being truly institutionalised.

"It has been a frustrating struggle, but now congratulations must go to Mr Trenorden, Mr Paul Tomlinson and all members of the foundation for their persistence in promoting the concept and full credit must go to them for their initial idea."

"This decision, along with the decision to allow an unlimited extension of the Multi-Purpose Services (MPS) concept, is a real turning point for rural aged care and rural health.

"It is the WA experience of the MPS which led the way to its endorsement at the Health Ministers' Conference.

"Rural WA has embraced the concept enthusiastically and currently, the Health Department's Rural Health Policy Unit is working with the Commonwealth to evaluate the 25 expressions of interest in MPS we have received since the three original pilot sites got under way."

Media contact:  Jeanne Klener (09) 222 9595 / (09) 325 8655