Wait down for NDIS patients in hospital
11 January 2023 at 2:53 pm
People with disability are staying in hospital for less time after being approved for discharge, and there is hope the wait time could drop further.
Hospital patients with disability who are medically ready for discharge are now waiting less time for somewhere to go, according to NDIS minister Bill Shorten.
The minister announced earlier this month that the average waiting time across Australia for NDIS participants medically fit for discharge from hospital is now 33 days.
This is down from an average of 160 days in Victoria at the time of the federal election.
See more: Exclusive: Three key actions needed to get NDIS participants out of hospital
While acknowledging that “this is still too long”, the minister said the drop in wait times is “fantastic news for the literally hundreds and hundreds of people who have been able to be discharged”.
“And of course, when you reduce the numbers of people in hospital, you free up hospital beds, you’re reducing the cost to the hospital system of literally hundreds of millions of dollars over the last few months,” he added.
“If you’re a profoundly disabled person and you’re medically fit to be discharged from hospital, hospital is the last place you want to be.”
Shorten said the drop in wait times was due to the appointment of 54 hospital liaison officers (HLOs) who work with hospital rehab teams to put together care plans for individuals leaving hospital.
“There used to only be about 28, 29 of them, so we’ve almost doubled the number of wranglers,” he said.
“Each individual [patient] is different, but by giving them priority and attention, we’ve managed to reduce the number [in hospital].”
He said the states would now need to “step up and provide more social housing” to reduce the number further.
“We’re doing our bit for people with disabilities to reduce the bureaucracy at the federal end, but we do need more housing, more appropriate housing, and that’s the next challenge for 2023,” Shorten said.
Dr Martin Laverty, CEO of Aruma, which made suggestions to the minister’s Improving Care Pathways Taskforce on care for patients with disability, said the minister’s doubling of HLOs “is working”.
“Over time, we should expect the wait time to fall even further,” he said.
“The improved waiting time for discharge also creates breathing space for State and Territory run hospitals together with disability support organisations like Aruma and the NDIA to take steps to improve the experience of people with disability when admitted to hospital,” he added.
“There is also opportunity to assess hospital bed block hot spots around the country to inform what regions need extra HLOs.”
