ELDERLY Wagga residents are being given “ultimatums” and transferred to hospitals more than an hour away while they wait for a spot in the city’s nursing homes.
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Private occupational therapist Judy-Anne Everson said it was a story she heard time and again, labelling Wagga’s aged care system “a quagmire” with more than 50 people on some waiting lists.
“I see the carers in total disaster, it’s traumatic,” she said.
One woman, who has asked not to be named for fear of repercussions for her mother, said they waited more than three months for a place in permanent care.
In August, her 89-year-old mother was given an “ultimatum” from hospital staff after spending five days in Wagga hospital after a stroke while still waiting for a place.
They were told the elderly woman must either leave or be transferred to Tumut, Narrandera or Tumbarumba health services.
“They didn’t care, they didn’t care whatsoever,” the daughter said. “Even the doctors tried to intervene.”
The family chose alternatively to place her in a Lockhart respite service where the lucid elderly woman spent two weeks with mostly dementia-affected residents.
MLHD regional general manager Rosemary Garthwaite said any moving of elderly Wagga patients to outlying hospitals was only done after consultation with the patient and their loved ones if bed space became challenging.
“Wagga Rural Referral Hospital (WRRH) is a referral hospital for the whole local health district,” Ms Garthwaite said.