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How long do I have to wait for my Home Care Package?
Episode 16 • 6th August 2024 • Your Aged Care Compass • Coral Wilkinson & Michelle Brown
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The time a person waits for their home care package depends on what level of package a person is approved for and what priority they are given by the aged care assessment team (ACAT).

Coral discusses the different priority levels, and the difference between approval and assignment of the home care package. She talks about how long the wait times are for the various package levels.

Learn about what to do if the older person’s needs increase while they are waiting for their home care package to be assigned.

In this episode:

  • How a person is approved for a home care package
  • What determines how long a person waits?
  • Approval vs assignment of the home care package
  • Coral relates a real story
  • What if the older person’s needs increase while they are waiting?
  • Support plan review (priority review)
  • Reasons for a support plan review
  • Current wait times for home care packages

Resources mentioned:

Related episodes:


Connect with Coral Wilkinson: 

  

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast: 

Are you supporting an older loved one at home and ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is aimed at anyone who is caring for an older loved one who still lives at home and is wondering what support is available to them.


We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.


Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.


Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is now client care manager for our business. 


Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. We reached a point however, of needing extra support and we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well, we knew what programs could assist us and our parents.


This podcast, Your Aged Care Compass, brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our own ageing parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home. 


We will help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system, from your first contact with My Aged Care through to the different funding streams and assessment workforces, management options for home care packages and extra funding that people might be eligible for.


There's so much more. Topics relating to dementia and legal and financial considerations will be covered, as well as real life stories of where it went wrong for people and how we guided them to get it right.

 

Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones. 


Like what you hear? Please leave us a Rating and Review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.



Transcripts

Michelle:

Hi everyone, thanks for joining us for today's podcast episode.

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How long do I wait for

my home care package?

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The time it takes for a person to

be assigned their home care package

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from approval with the aged care

assessment team is determined at the

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conclusion of the ACAT assessment.

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People enter the National Priority

System, otherwise known as the

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Q, And we'll wait the months it

takes as determined by the ACAT.

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But if a person's needs change and

they become more dependent during

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that time, it is possible to shorten

the length of time waiting and

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have the package assigned sooner.

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Coral, to lead into this

discussion, tell us how a person is

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approved for a home care package.

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Coral: The aged care assessment

teams or ACATs approve for

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home care packages shell.

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To ACAT, a person needs to enter the aged

care system via My Aged Care, be screened

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by My Aged Care as to their needs, which

is how much support they currently need,

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and if there is any informal support such

as family support available currently.

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Based on the amount of information you

provide My Aged Care, you'll progress

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to an assessment with the Regional

Assessment Service, or the RAS,

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which is the Entry Level Assessment

Workforce, or you might go directly

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to the ACAT, which is where you'll

be assessed for a home care package.

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Michelle: So at the end of the

ACAT assessment, the ACAT assessor

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decides what level of package the

person will be approved for, as

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well as the time the person will

wait to be assigned their package.

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Coral: That's right, you'll Again,

reflecting on the amount of information,

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the detail with which you provide the

ACAT assessor, the level of home care

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package is decided as well as the priority

level, meaning how long a person will

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wait before their package is assigned.

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There are four levels of home care

packages ranging from level one, which

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is basic or low needs to a level four

package, which would reflect a person

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who requires significant support.

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And significant support Looks like help

with showering, transport assistance

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assistance with domestic tasks around

the house, social support assistance

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with mobility and, maybe help toileting

or management of continence as well.

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So , quite high care needs.

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Essentially a level four package

is approved for people who would

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not otherwise be able to manage at

home without that level of support.

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The wait time is also decided at the

conclusion of the ACAT assessment.

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ACATs will approve people as

a low priority, or a medium

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priority, or a high priority.

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Most people are approved at a medium

priority, but some people who need

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that support sooner rather than later

would be approved as a high priority.

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What this means is that a high

priority approval will allow

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you a reduced wait time to be

assigned your home care package.

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So you'll enter that national priority

system or that queue closer to the

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front of the queue, meaning that you

won't wait as long as someone who

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has been approved at medium priority.

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Yeah,

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Michelle: Right.

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Okay.

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And look, we do see a lot of

confusion about being approved

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and then assigned the package.

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So we should probably

clarify this for listeners.

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Coral: we should, Shel.

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And that's right.

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So after the ACAT assessment is

completed, the person will receive

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their approval documents in the mail.

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So these documents detail both

the level of home care package,

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that the ACAT has approved the

person for and the priority level.

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These are purely a summary

of the assessment process.

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But people get confused and

they think these documents are

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the assignment of the package.

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They're not.

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So, just to reiterate again, the first lot

of documents that a person would receive

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in the mail is their approval documents.

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That approval has entered the queue.

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and they'll be waiting to have

their home care package assigned.

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And then some months down the track,

they'll receive some more documentation

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that will actually say you have been

assigned your home care package.

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Michelle: Right.

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So how does the ACAT determine the

priority level, which is, how long

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a person can wait until they're

assigned their home care package?

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Coral: So during the ACAT assessment,

the assessor will ask lots of questions

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about what the older person can do

and what they can't do for themselves.

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They'll ask what support is in place

already, and this might be support that

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the family are paying for privately, such

as a cleaner or law knowing contractor.

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The ACAT will ask about how much support

the family is currently providing, and

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if this amount of support is sustainable.

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So this is a very

important point to clarify.

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I'll just explain that for a moment.

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Providing a high level of support

such as daily reminders to take

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medications, helping your older loved

one with showering and personal care,

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managing incontinence, cooking meals

for a loved one, visiting them to

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ensure that they're safe, leaving work

during lunch breaks to check on them.

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This level of support is very high.

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And it's not sustainable.

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So if a family member is providing

this level of support, it should

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be a red flag to an ACAT assessor.

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The family member needs to be honest

with both their older loved one, as well

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as the ACAT assessor, that they cannot

continue to provide this level of support.

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Michelle: Yeah, that's a

really important point.

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And I think to put this in

context, Coral, do you want to

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tell us about Heather's story?

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Coral: Yes, I will.

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it's a really good representation

of what I've just discussed there.

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So Heather's mum was not registered

with My Aged Care and not receiving,

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obviously, any support via My Aged Care.

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Heather was providing a lot of support

for her mum who was cognitively impaired.

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She was exhausted and she was afraid

that her employer was going to ask her

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to leave because during the day, Heather

kept running home to check on her mum.

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So , when Heather came to us for

help, we assessed her mum's needs and

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made a very detailed and compelling

report that highlighted All the

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support Heather was providing and

the fragility of the situation namely

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to Heather's health and wellbeing.

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So when the ACAT did assess Heather's mum,

she received an approval for a home care

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package level four, the highest level,

and they approved that at a high priority.

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And that package was

assigned within the month.

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Michelle: Wow.

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Coral: Yeah.

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Michelle: So, depending on the urgency

for formal support, and in this case

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meaning a home care package, The ACAT

will approve the package as a high or

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generally a medium, wouldn't it, which

determines the length of time until

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the older person is assigned a package.

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Coral: that's correct.

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Michelle: Do you ever see

low priority approvals?

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Coral: Very rarely, , in our experience

and we, talk to a lot of people

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and we're engaging with people across social media.

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They have some support at entry level

and by the time they, recognize the need

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for increased support, meaning that entry

level support cannot sustain them any

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longer, and they need to go up to the

next level and get an ACAT assessment.

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A low prior, like I've seen it once, and

I've been doing this for a long time.

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So, I'm sure it does happen.

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But what we see generally is that people

are approved at a medium priority.

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And then there are those who.

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really have that urgency for support so

they get approved at a high priority?

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Michelle: Right.

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And if a person's needs change, and

they really need the support at the

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time, that the home care package can

provide, like while they are still

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in the queue waiting, can they do

anything to reduce the wait time?

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Coral: Yes, they can.

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So if a person is waiting to have

their home care package assigned and

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for whatever reason they need the

support it can offer sooner rather

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than later, they can call My Aged Care

and request a support plan review.

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Now some people call this a

priority review and in essence it

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is, but you know the formal name

for it is a support plan review.

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Which means the ACAT will review the

priority level and may change the

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approval from a medium to high priority.

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What this does is it moves the

person to the front of the queue,

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decreasing their wait time by months.

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Michelle: And that's, a

legitimate thing to do,

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Coral: Absolutely.

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A hundred percent.

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Yeah.

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Michelle: So Coral, what would

be some of the reasons that a

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person might take this action?

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Coral: It might be that there has been a

significant health issue such as a fall

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or a heart attack or a stroke that causes

the older person to decline functionally

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and need a lot more help from the family.

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And this is not an unusual situation.

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If the family cannot provide this

increased support, that would be an

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indicator for a support plan review.

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Another reason is a change in

the current caring arrangement.

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If a family member who is caring for the

older person becomes unwell themselves

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or needs to move away for work, leaving

the older person without support, and

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if the older person couldn't manage at

home without support, then this would

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be another reason to request a support

plan review for a change of care.

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Priority

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Michelle: Okay.

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What are the current wait

times for packages Coral?

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Coral: if a person is approved to

their home care package at a medium

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priority, the wait times, as we

speak in July,:

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one month for a level one package.

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three to six months for

a level two package.

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And then it blows out to nine to 12 months

for a level three package and also nine

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to 12 months for a level four package.

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So for someone to be approved

for a high level package being

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a three or a four, waiting for

up to 12 months is a long time.

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In fact, it's just too long.

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So if a person was approved as

a high priority, their wait time

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would decrease by many months

for those higher level packages.

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What we're seeing and what people

report back to us is that a high

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priority approval for the home care

package, the, these packages are being

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assigned within weeks and not months.

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So it makes a huge difference to

people who are absolutely sort

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of teetering on the brink of.

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I can't do this anymore.

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If I don't get some help now, I'm going to

have to put mom or dad in a nursing home.

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, people, again, in general terms, tend to

be unaware that they can take this action

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and they can get the priority changed

because, this is about vulnerability and

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risk and we don't want the older person

presenting at the local hospital or.

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Having to go into a nursing home

because they couldn't get that formal

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support when they actually needed it.

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Michelle: Yeah.

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And you've just said it Coral, Getting

that support when the person really

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needs it can make the difference between

being able to stay at home and being

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admitted to an aged care facility.

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Coral: That's exactly right, Shell.

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Yep.

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Michelle: This has been an enlightening

discussion, Coral, and one that I know

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our listeners are going to find helpful.

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Being clear about the approval and

then the wait for the package to be

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assigned and then knowing what to do

if the older person's needs change

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while they're waiting for the package

to be assigned is key to being able to

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remain at home for as long as possible.

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Thank you for joining us today.

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We'd love for you to subscribe

to our podcast or leave a review.

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