Round opens to apply for aged care places in the bush

Up to 135 flexible residential aged care places are available for multi-purpose services in small rural and remote areas in a new round of offers that opened this week.

Up to 135 flexible residential aged care places are available for multi-purpose services in small rural and remote areas in a new round of offers that opened this week.

The Multi-Purpose Services Program is jointly funded by federal and state governments to provide health and aged care to rural and remote communities where standalone hospitals or aged care facilities are not be viable.

Approved providers of multi-purpose service can apply for flexible low care or high care residential aged care places to expand existing services or establish new services.

They can also apply to upgrade or downgrade the level of care designated to an existing flexible aged care place.

Minister for Aged Care Ken Wyatt said this investment of up to $4 million for the 2018-19 round was one way the Government was improving services for seniors in the bush.

“Multi-purpose services play a critical role in small rural communities, where older people previously had to leave their hometown or go to the local hospital to get the care they need,” Mr Wyatt said.

The models allows integrated health and aged care services to pool commonwealth and state funding to deliver a flexible model that best meets their individual community’s needs, he said.

“This approach improves quality of care, flexibility and access for older Australians in rural and remote regions in a cost-effective manner,” Minister Wyatt said.

In the 2017-18 round, which announced results in December 2017, 15 new flexible aged care places were allocated to establish a service in Bonalbo, NSW, while 63 existing flexible places in rural communities in NSW, Victoria and South Australia changed from low care to high care.

In the 2016 round, which reported successful applicants in January 2017, 55 new flexible aged care places were allocated to establish services in Bamaga in Richmond in Queensland and expand services in NSW, Queensland and WA rural communities.

A further 156 existing flexible places changed from low care to high care in existing rural services in NSW, Queensland, SA and WA.

Applications for the current round opened on 27 August and close 5 October 2018.

Information about the Multi-Purpose Services Program and application forms for this round are available on the Department of Health’s website.

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Tags: flexible-services, Ken Wyatt, mps, multi-purpose services, remote-and-rural,

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