Local Health District CEO, Margot Mains joins us to explore how hospitals are coping with the nearly 200 older people in hospital who need to move to, or return to, residential care. Margot explains how this impacts both older people who need and deserve specialised aged care, and health care opportunities for the whole community.

Aged care consultant Mark Sewell joins Nicky on this episode of the podcast bringing his wealth of knowledge and insights into the crisis facing the Health Care system due to “bed block”. Bed block is where people are unable to leave the acute care hospital setting due to lack of availability of residential care or not having the supports at home to meet their needs.

In our third episode focusing on “Bed Block,” Nicky is shocked to learn that older people admitted to hospital are staying, on average, over 16 times longer than younger people. This is “Bed Block,” where people no longer in need of acute care are unable to leave the hospital due to a lack of availability of residential care or not having the supports at home to meet their needs.

Aged Care, Ageing and Dementia Advocate, Val Fell joins Nicky to give a very personal account of a patient who has the experienced the impact of bed block. A member of the Minister’s Council of Elders and the National Older Persons’ Reference Group, Val was taken into hospital for a medical emergency and spent 3 weeks in a locked geriatric dementia ward – despite not having dementia and having spent decades working for better outcomes for people living with dementia and their carers.

Residents of the Illawarra Shoalhaven are being called to action! The Strategic Regional Transport Plan is open for consultation, offering a chance to shape the future of transport in our region. In this episode of Community Matters, we speak with George Takacs, Active Transport Taskforce Coordinator at Healthy Cities Illawarra, about the vital role of active and public transport in building healthier, more connected, and sustainable communities.