A mother opted for voluntary assisted dying after being forced to wait for an upgraded home care package, as the government is under increasing pressure to address the number of elderly and sick people on the 80,000-strong waiting list.
The shocking case, which featured on Ben Fordham’s 2GB show on Thursday morning, highlighted how some individuals are choosing to end their life instead of enduring the interminable delays for their home care to be provided.
Home care packages, which are government-funded through MyAgedCare allow ns to access support in their own home, including nursing, food preparation, cleaning and help with personal hygiene.
It is often a vital measure to help delay or avoid moving into much more costly residential aged care.
However, there are around 76,000 waiting for home care packages, a hearing of the Senate Inquiry into the Aged Care Bill heard last month.
2GB has been inundated with calls from family members with elderly relatives who have been approved for packages but have been told they could wait over a year to receive them.
But the ‘most heartbreaking’ call came from a man called Mark whose mother Ellen chose assisted dying over waiting for her package.
‘My mum suffered severe COPD for several years while she was waiting for an upgraded package,’ Mark told the program.
‘Her pride wouldn’t allow any of her boys to take care of her or to bathe her so she got approved for the assisted dying and actually a few months ago proceeded with (it).’
He added: ‘She passed while waiting for the upgraded package.’
COPD is short for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – a progressive illness in the lungs that makes it difficult to breathe.
Fordham was left devastated by the news describing it as ‘heartbreaking’.
‘We are chasing answers from the n government on this because people are dying while waiting for home care packages,’ he said.
‘When you’ve got Ellen choosing euthanasia instead you know that you’ve got a serious problem.’
The program also heard from multiple people whose elderly relatives passed away while waiting months for their approved care packages to be delivered
Bruno revealed that his 96-year-old mum was told she will need to wait over a year for NDIS ‘level four’ home care support package.
Another listener said: ‘The $450millon spent on the failed Voice would have gone far further with home care packages.’
The MyAgedCare website reveals it currently takes between 12 – 15 months for an individual to receive level four care after they have been approved.
Daily Mail approached the Department for Health and Aged Care for comment.
It comes after a terminally ill man turned to voluntary assisted dying after being denied in-home care.
Cyril Tooze, 86, was approved for the highest level of home care assistance under the federal government’s MyAgedCare program earlier this year due to his chronic lung and heart illnesses.
The Adelaide Hills man was initially given a nine-month wait time to receive at-home care, despite no one to care for him and his family living interstate.
But when the backlog of demand and a staff shortage stretched that period out beyond October, he opted to end his life following a lengthy hospital stint after a fall at home.
Mr Tooze was just 46kg when he died last month.