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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-08-24 Daily Xml
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Kindred Living Aged Care

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:52): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing about the Kindred Living aged-care facility in Whyalla.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Kindred Living recently made a decision to close one of its three facilities in Whyalla, the Annie Lockwood Court Hostel, placing 37 aged-care residents in jeopardy of losing their position, many of them high dependency residents, with a deadline this Friday. Under the federal act, Kindred cannot actually close the facility until all the residents have been relocated, something that is proving difficult with the lack of aged-care beds in Whyalla and neighbouring towns.

As of today, I am told about 20 of the 37 residents remain in Annie Lockwood. One former resident has been moved into another facility run by Kindred, the Yeltana Nursing Home, and is being forced to share a room with a dementia patient. Another has been relocated to Cummins, some 250 kilometres away, while another has been forced to move to Port Augusta, about 75 kilometres away. This is causing distress to both the residents and their families.

My question to the minister is: what is the state government doing to assist these residents, if it can? What has been the focus of talks between the state government and the federal government, and do you think it's fair that elderly residents are virtually being evicted from their homes due to the problems being experienced at Kindred Living?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:54): I thank the honourable member for his question. I am surprised at the tail to his explanation because I thought that he acknowledged in his question that the residents of this facility are entitled, under commonwealth law, to security of tenure. That is my understanding. I don't know in what sense he thinks they are being evicted. I certainly appreciate they are facing a very challenging situation but I don't think it is appropriate to say they are being evicted.

Kindred Living is the sole provider of residential aged-care services in Whyalla and, as the honourable member has indicated, it will close its Annie Lockwood Court facility on 30 August 2021. The Flinders and Upper North Local Health Network, which is part of the SA Health family of country local health networks, has a positive working relationship with Kindred Living and will provide liaison and support to Kindred Living to try to find appropriate placements for displaced residents in SA Health-operated residential aged-care facilities and, for that matter, any other facilities we can identify.

The honourable member indicated what liaison there has been with the commonwealth. I can indicate that in recent weeks the Flinders and Upper North Local Health Network has been having weekly meetings with the commonwealth government and the Office for Ageing Well. The Office for Ageing Well is a state government agency. The focus of those meetings is to support Kindred Living and to monitor the impact of the pending closure on the community and acute health services.

Also, I indicate that I appreciate greatly the personal interest of the federal minister for aged care (whatever name the federal minister has at the moment) the Hon. Richard Colbeck for his interest in supporting the care of the current residents of Annie Lockwood Court. Annie Lockwood Court has 52 beds and post closure Whyalla will have a total of 114 residential aged-care beds, which is a total capacity of 166.

I am told that commonwealth modelling indicates that in order to meet demand Whyalla requires 160 residential beds. With the closure of Annie Lockwood, Whyalla is in a situation of having a shortage of beds. Residential aged care is both regulated by and funded by the commonwealth government and we look forward to the commonwealth government working with the community of Whyalla and the region to ensure that the area has good residential aged-care capacity going forward.

In the short term, of course, the challenge is in relation to the current residents of Annie Lockwood. I am advised that, of the residents remaining at Annie Lockwood, 12 have been allocated places at other Kindred Living facilities in Whyalla. Kindred Living intends to negotiate beds outside of Whyalla for eight residents who are amenable to relocation. The remaining nine residents, I am advised, are not willing to transfer and will continue to be cared for at Annie Lockwood until suitable alternative accommodation can be found.

The Aged Rights Advocacy Service has been actively involved in discussions and negotiations in relation to Annie Lockwood residents and ARAS will continue to support Kindred Living residents throughout the transition.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Pangallo, a supplementary.

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