A ST ALBANS resident is calling for more nursing homes to be opened in the west after struggling to find a suitable place for her elderly father.
Two months ago, Sue Srenko’s father, Matthew Babics, 79, was struck down by strokes which triggered the onset of dementia. The family was told he needs 24-hour care.
“It was really hard because 12 weeks previously he had been totally independent,” Ms Srenko said.
“He’d had stomach cancer which had been operable, but when he fell and split his head open it caused multiple strokes and the onset of early-stage dementia.”
Ms Srenko said it was difficult to find an affordable nursing home that could accommodate a high-care patient.
Her father is now in a home in Avondale Heights.
Ron Carroll, managing director of Aged Care Connect in Sydenham, said accommodation bonds at aged-care homes had increased almost 20 per cent annually over the past five years.
“It’s becoming more and more difficult for people to be able to afford this type of care for their loved ones,” he said.
In the past two years, aged-care bond prices in the western suburbs had risen from $200,000 to $350,000-$400,000 due to rising property values.
“The price of the bond has nothing to do with the level of care the person receives,” Mr Carroll added.
“Most of the bond is set aside for maintenance work on the building.”
Nicki Stills, director of Best Care, an aged-care service provider in Melbourne’s east, said more specialised nursing homes were needed in the west.
“There has been an influx of elderly people needing specialised care in the west,” she said.
“A lot of migrants and their family members have minimal English and often struggle to overcome language barriers, to understand the costs of bonds and the different levels of care.”
Census data from 2011 shows there were 14,044 people aged over 70 in Brimbank.
Brimbank Council’s acting general manager of community well-being, Neil Whiteside, said council forecasts showed the largest increase in Brimbank’s population would be the 70-74 age group, which is expected to increase by more than 8000 people by 2021.
Mr Whiteside said the council had increased services for elderly residents with funding for personal and respite care, combined with the launch of a new home and community care (HACC) program in May.
He said the council was developing an ‘age-friendly city’ plan for the next 20 years.
A spokeswoman for state Health Minister David Davis said the government was aware of the north-west’s rapid population growth and had provided more than $20 million for Brimbank and Melton’s HACC programs.
