Home support in “crisis”
Home support programs for elderly and people with disabilities in Baw Baw Shire have been described by Member for Monash Russell Broadbent as “in collapse and crisis”.
Mr Broadbent’s comments followed reports to The Gazette by a number of residents since the home care programs, previously conducted by Baw Baw Shire and Latrobe City Council, were privatised with the change taking effect from the start of July.
There were about 2000 clients of the services on Baw Baw council’s books at the end of June.
Baw Baw and Latrobe City councils engaged consultants in September 2021 to evaluate care organisations across the state that could provide the services locally.
Some of the main services affected included meals-on-wheels, transport assistance and housekeeping.
The federal and state governments have shared responsibilities for the overall programs and after submission of the consultants’ report by Baw Baw and Latrobe councils, the Federal Government appointed Anglican Church associated Benetas to deliver services to those aged over 65 and the State Government appointed Uniting Vic/Tas (Uniting Gippsland) for those under 65.
Mr Broadbent said there was a crisis with home care packages in both council areas.
“They (the new providers) do not have the staff numbers that the councils employed. The government is still funding them but they’re not delivering”.
It’s not good enough Mr Broadbent said, and he urged anyone that relied on and were having problems with home support to contact his electorate office in Warragul to help build a case to be put to the relevant minister.
Many already have, he said.
One person that has contacted Mr Broadbent is June Harvey of Drouin.
Ms Harvey, who is in her 90s, previously received one hour’s cleaning of her home fortnightly when the service was operated by Baw Baw Shire.
She has requested the same level of service from the new provider, Benetas, but has only had three half hour visits since the start of July, the latest on August 15.
And her bill for the two visits in July listed them as for being an hour for which she was to pay $7.50 each, was charged twice for each visit and her account sent to the wrong postal address.
Adding to Ms Harvey’s frustrations are the fact that scheduled appointments for her housekeeping are not met, with usually no explanation or any attempt made to set a new date.
With Baw Baw Shire on the “rare occasions” a staff member could not attend as scheduled, contact was made to inform her and give some options for another time and day, she said.
Ms Harvey said her only alternative to the government funded service was to pay “full price” for a private cleaner.
She added that many other people she knows were having similar experiences with Benetas and had heard comments that many of the staff previously at Baw Baw did not move over to Benetas because of a lower hourly pay rate.
Another woman The Gazette spoke with, but did not want to be named, said she had received accounts for her share of the cost even when nobody had turned up to clean her house.
She said she’d only had “a couple” of weekly visits she asked for since July.
A spokesperson for Benetas told The Gazette staff shortages were at the core of the difficulties and it was working hard to recruit more to staff deliver the program.
Delivery of meals-on-wheels throughout the shire also had its problems, being thrown into confusion when the previous contractor engaged by council for the service stated in late April that it would not continue after June.
The provision of meals was taken over by Lite and Easy who provided meals in Monash City and also had to deliver meals in Baw Baw Shire with the help of a small number of volunteers.
The shire’s community services manager Leonie Martens said of the 70 staff engaged by the shire to deliver federal and state support services only 31 had transitioned to the new providers by the time of the changeover.
She said many had opted for retirement, a career change or to take break.
Baw Baw council decided in 2021 that it would cease delivering aged and disability services from June 30 this year.
It said the decision was the result of “significant federal reforms” following the 2018 Royal Commission into the quality and safety of aged care in Australia.