A mother has resorted to voluntary assisted dying rather than endure the long delay for an enhanced home care package as the number of elderly and sick people on the waiting list rises to 80,000.
The shocking case, which appeared on Ben Fordham’s 2GB show on Thursday morning, exposed the suffering of those facing endless delays in the government’s provision of home care.
Home care packages, funded by the government through MyAgedCare, give Australians access to support in their own home, including nursing, food preparation, cleaning and assistance with personal hygiene.
It is intended to prevent the transition to expensive residential elderly care.
However, there are about 76,000 people waiting for home care packages, a hearing of the Senate inquiry into the Aged Care Bill showed last month.
2GB has been inundated with calls from relatives with elderly relatives who were approved for packages but were told they could wait more than a year to receive the services.
The most heartbreaking call came from a man named Mark, whose mother Ellen chose euthanasia because she could not wait that long for home care.
“My mother suffered from severe COPD for years while waiting for an upgraded package,” Mark told the program.
Ellen (pictured with her son Mark) opted for voluntary assisted dying because the wait for an improved home care package took too long
“Her pride wouldn’t allow any of her boys to care for her or bathe her, so she got approved for assisted dying and went through with it a few months ago.”
He added, “She succeeded while waiting for the upgraded package.”
COPD is short for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – a progressive inflammation in the lungs and airways that makes it difficult to breathe.
Fordham was devastated by the cry and suffering of so many vulnerable people.
“We are looking for answers from the Australian government on this because people are dying while waiting for home care packages,” he said.
‘If you let Ellen choose euthanasia, you know you have a serious problem.’
The Fordham Program heard from several people whose elderly relatives died while waiting months for their approved care packages to be delivered
Bruno revealed his 96-year-old mother was told she would have to wait more than a year for the NDIS ‘level four’ home care support package.
Cyril Tooze (pictured), 86, was approved earlier this year for the highest level of home care under the federal government’s MyAgedCare program because of his chronic lung and heart diseases, but had to wait nine months. Instead, he opted for voluntary assisted dying
Another listener said: ‘The $450 million spent on the failed Voice would have gone much further with home care packages.’
The MyAgedCare website reveals that it currently takes between 12 and 15 months for a person to receive Level 4 care once approved.
Daily Mail Australia has approached the Department of Health and Aged Care for comment.
Cyril Tooze, 86, was also someone who chose euthanasia because of the long wait for home care.
Mr. Tooze was approved for the highest level of home care support under the MyAgedCare program earlier this year due to his terminal lung and heart diseases.
However, the Adelaide Hills man was given a nine-month waiting period despite having no one to care for him because his family lived on the highway.
But when demand and staff shortages extended that waiting period beyond October, he chose to end his life after a lengthy hospital stay caused by a fall at home.
Mr Tooze weighed just 46kg when he died last month.