Hello everyone,
As I write this, it is the end of May and chill is really starting to bite with some extremely nasty frosts already! Please use all the tips and tools you know for keeping your house warm: shut doors to rooms you are not using; use door-snakes to prevents cold draughts; use your curtains and blinds to help reduce the cold coming in through your glass windows – all of these things will help.
I have had the great pleasure of addressing several groups in recent months to tell them how great our Meals on Wheels service is!
In March I spoke to the Armidale Rotary Club and in April I spoke to the Armidale Branch of National Seniors. It’s always nice to be able to provide a different perspective around the work we do – particularly how much the service has changed since the ‘good old days’ when the volunteers would drive around with a thermos of hot soup and eskies packed with generic meals that everyone were given whether they liked it or not!
Following the federal budget in May, the Government has decided to defer the start of the new aged care program until July 1st 2025. This decision has both positive and negative implications for us.
The negative for us, is that we remain in limbo for another 12 months when we were starting to become optimistic of the possibility of progressive change about a year from now.
The positive side of this outcome is that the Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHaC) will now have additional time to get this right! We are looking at the biggest overhaul of the aged care sector encompassing both residential care and all services delivered in the home, including Meals on Wheels.
So it’s very important that they take the time to develop a compassionate yet robust model to be implemented in a sustainable and financially responsible way.
We are taking every opportunity to participate in consultation processes; providing feedback on draft guidelines and legislation; attending meetings, and seminars with DoHaC; as well as responding to various ‘Discussion Papers’ and surveys issued by DoHaC seeking our input.
As long as we continue to contribute, we can feel satisfied that we have done everything we can to help shape the future of aged care services.
Kerryn Williams, Manager