‘I can’t leave her there to get Covid’: home care demand soars amid aged care crisis

Cathy Beaufort knows she should be touring nursing homes to find an appropriate facility for her 95-year-old mother but "there's absolutely no way on the planet that I want her to go to aged care".

"How could I put her into care?" Beaufort says from her mother's home, which she travels an hour to from her Brisbane home multiple times a week to provide care. The 14 hours of care provided by two home care workers is not enough, but is all she is eligible for under a home care package.

Beaufort's mother is mentally healthy; her heart and lungs are strong. But a catastrophic complication during back surgery means her mobility is extremely limited and worsening, placing her at risk of falls.

"I'm 64 [and] I've been caring for her for 10 years. Her needs have increased and I am so tired," Beaufort says. "But even though she is triple-vaccinated, what will it mean for her if she goes into aged care and Covid gets into the home? They might put her in isolation, which means I can't visit."

Beaufort says she has been reading stories about the atrocious conditions and staff shortages ravaging aged care homes.

"I can't send my mother off to an aged care facility and potentially not even be able to visit her, or leave her there to get Covid."

Georgia Downes, the chief operating officer of Home Instead Australia and New Zealand, says home care demand skyrocketed throughout the pandemic as people were desperate to avoid aged care facilities.