Retirement home residents must relocate
Residents of Wesley Taylor in Narrabeen are reeling from the news that the residential aged care facility will shut in May.
Owners Wesley Mission announced on 13 April that it was closing its three remaining residential aged care centres across Sydney, including the Narrabeen site. Wesley Taylor has been in operation for 36 years and houses 68 residents and 62 staff.
Wesley Mission chief executive officer Reverend Stu Cameron said the christian-based charity had made the decision following a review of operations, and ‘the impact of COVID-19’.
Reverend Cameron said several factors influenced the decision, including the Federal Government’s reforms to the aged care sector, which were enacted in October last year.
Reforms such as the requirement for facilities to have a registered nurse 24 hours a day, and a minimum time of care per resident a day, have been a concern for many providers given the additional costs which will be incurred.
“It is a challenging environment to be a smaller provider,” Reverend Cameron said.
Wesley Aged Care has already started moving residents out of the facility, including to other providers on the Northern Beaches. Transfers were expected to ‘increase significantly’ over the coming weeks, Reverend Cameron told Peninsula Living Pittwater.
MyCarePath was being used to assist residents, and Reverend Cameron said he was ‘heartened’ by offers of accommodation and employment for staff from other providers.
While the facility is scheduled to close in May, Reverend Cameron said the date was ‘only indicative,’ and it would continue operating ‘until every resident has found a new home to their satisfaction’.
“Our sole focus now is on supporting them to our utmost through the closure process.”
Mackellar MP Sophie Scamps said the news was ‘distressing’ for residents, their families and staff. “After 10 years of neglect and a lack of investment, our aged care sector is in crisis,” Ms Scamps said.
“It’s now incumbent on the Federal Government to urgently address staff shortages in the aged care sector, while also helping facilities to transition rapidly to 24 hour care from nurses.”