IPSWICH Meals on Wheels has been forced to put 200 of its most frail customers on to a lengthy wait list.
It made the tough call after $85,000 in annual government funding dried up, with demand for the service growing 10 percent annually.
Ipswich Meals on Wheels boss Bec Dakin said it has also imposed higher meal rates for new clients, with 50 clients now paying $3 extra for each meal.
“The government has assessed these people as needing assistance with meals but haven’t provided the funding necessary to fulfill the needs,” Ms Dakin said.
She said an extra $120,000 was required to meet current demands as services expand to new suburbs.
The funding allocation from the government helps offset meal pricing for clients referred by My Aged Care.
“For 68 years, Ipswich Meals on Wheels has never said ‘no’ to anyone, until three months ago when we made the difficult choice to impose a ‘wait list’,” Ms Dakin said.
“We made the decision to ensure we could continue to support our current clients, but it angers and saddens me to say there are more than 200 people on this list and it is growing every day.
“It is unfair and un-Australian that older people in our community are being denied access to funded meals because where they live the funding allocation provided to services does not match demand.
“The importance of nutrition and social connections to older people cannot be understated and should be funded on a ‘no-wait’ funding model, not an allocation number decided more than three years ago.
“The government knows it’s cheaper to deliver a meal to a client in their home than it is to deliver a meal to a client in hospital or in residential aged care.
“The $120,000 we need is not a lot of money when you think about the aged care reform spending of $4.7 billion or the fact the government bailed out Rex Airlines with $80 million.”
Federal Member for Blair Shayne Neumann stressed the need for a long-term solution for Meals on Wheels.
He said he has been in regular contact with Aged Care Minister Anika Wells about the problem.
“Minister Wells has told me I can expect a response in a week or two and I am expecting a positive outcome,” Mr Neumann said.
“I’m very pleased with her reply. I’ll continue to work with Meals on Wheels and with Bec, who does a great job in the local area.
“I know the great service they provide, and I want to continue to see it operate effectively and efficiently.
“I also want to make sure that people get the services in home care and meals that that are so for vital for health and well-being as we get older.”
The Ipswich service has five branches and serves about 750 active clients around 95,000 meals each year.
