Wait over home nursing now over

By Kath Gannaway
A MILLGROVE pensioner says her 88-year-old mother was unable to return home because of a shortage of home nursing care available in the Upper Yarra area.
Eastern Health refutes any shortage but Sally Phasey remains unconvinced.
She said her mother went into hospital four months ago for an operation and was ready to return home a month ago.
She was moved from The Alfred to Box Hill, then to The Angliss in Ferntree Gully in the hope that she would then be moved to Healesville Hospital.
Mrs Phasey rang the Mail on Thursday, desperate for answers after she said she was told by Healesville Hospital that they could not take her mother and they could not provide district nursing assistance and therefore she should care for her at home. After the Mail contacted Healesville Hospital and Eastern Health (which administers Healesville, Box Hill and the Angliss hospitals) on Friday, Mrs Phasey was advised that her mother could go home on Tuesday and would have the support of the Hospital in the Home (HITH) service.
“This is what we have wanted all along,” she said.
“But it could have happened a month ago.”
Mrs Phasey said the past month had been a nightmare of misinformation and duck-shoving by the hospitals in what she claims was an attempt to avoid having to fund nurses.
“Mum was ready to come home a month ago and Box Hill had approved me for Hospital in the Home, but then they said they were sorry, they didn’t realise the service didn’t come out past Lilydale,” she said.
Mrs Phasey said she had been assured by Healesville Hospital just last week that as soon as her mother was dismissed from the Angliss Hospital they would have nurses available to attend to her at home.
“The nurse (at Angliss) was about to sign mum up and all of a sudden Healesville didn’t have enough district nurses.”
Eastern Health, however, says the problems have arisen from the complexity of post hospital care needed.
Eastern Health’s community relations manager Beth Excell told the Mail despite the hardships involved it was deemed a transfer to Healesville Hospital or district nursing care was not the most safe or appropriate care option at the time.
Hospital in the Home Nursing Services will now be available to Mrs Phasey and her mother with the Yarra Valley Community Health Service district nursing service taking over once the situation improves.
Ms Excell said HITH is available to clients in Millgrove but could shed no light on why Mrs Phasey had been told it was not.
“It is not a matter of not having enough district nurses to support the region or a matter of who is providing or paying for the services,” she said.
However, Mrs Phasey says while she is pleased that her mother will now be at home with her family, she remains concerned that from her experience the services, which should have been provided a month ago and which as of last Thursday seemed to be going nowhere, only seemed to materialise on Friday.