$1000 TO SHOWER: CARE SLUG FOR AGED

exclusive – Julie Cross

Older Australians are being charged more than $1000 to have daily assisted showers over the Easter weekend. 

One person was quoted a price of $337.50 per hour for personal care on both public holidays and $202.50 an hour on Saturday and Sunday, which is a total of $1080.

While any kind of call-out on a public holiday engages an extra cost, the new aged care reforms on November 1 have seen the price of basic necessities such as personal care and meals rise exponentially, whittling away people’s funding alarmingly fast.

The Saturday Telegraph has previously revealed how even in normal workday hours a registered nurse can cost up to $320 per hour, a gardener $290, a shower $180 and a domestic cleaner $170.

With the public holiday penalties on top, the double whammy, means people are being forced to go without. 

Last week, the Sunday Telegraph launched a campaign, called Care Repair, highlighting flaws in the system which are leaving older Australians worse off. It comes as more than 100 federal politicians have called on the government to fix aged care. 

Christina Tsobanis, from Melbourne, cares full-time for her mum Sophie, 85, who needs regular showers to prevent infection due to being incontinent. 

Ms Tsobanis cooks, cleans and showers her herself on weekends to save money and now on Thursdays too, after costs soared and she had to cut back.

Due to the long weekend, the next time her mum is due professional care is Tuesday, effectively five days without any help. Ms Tsobanis said if they engaged professional help over the long weekend, it would eat through their funding and not leave enough for the rest of the month.

Others don’t have family who can step in.

In a Facebook support group one member was quoted $270 per hour for personal care on a public holiday.

“ … my shower is half an hour, so $135. I said no thanks. Last shower Thursday morning, next shower Tuesday morning … Ugghhh!” she wrote.

One woman requested care on Easter Monday, but was told by the provider they couldn’t as the $202 per hour fee would “blow the budget”.

Another said she had cancelled her mother-in-law’s shower for Good Friday and Easter Monday to save her package $420.

Many families said they personally assisted with showers on weekends and holidays, because sometimes there were no services available.

A government spokesman said every Australian should have affordable access to services without price gouging and said the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission had the power to investigate whether prices were unreasonable.

In todays Daily Telegraph and Sun Herald.