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Wednesday 13 July 2022
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Tent-stays at Pt Nepean VISITORS to the 560-hectare Point Nepean National Park will soon be able to overnight there in a tent. In a low key visit last week, Environment and Climate Action Minister Lily D’Ambrosio and Nepean MP Chris Brayne (left) had a firsthand look at one of the 36 pre-pitched tents that will be available from spring. Erected on wooden decks, the tents are close to the beach (signs warn of strong currents and rips) and amenities, including kitchens. Brayne said the “camping experience” would help “ensure the site’s ongoing presence as an environmentally and historically significant tourist destination”. The camping ground - part of a $4.5 million “upgrade” included in the park’s master plan - is near the historic Quarantine Station. A second stage of the camping project will see more tent pads “sensitively placed” near a remnant moonah woodland. Point Nepean National Park is open daily. Vehicles can enter 7am-5pm (6am-6pm in daylight savings) and exit at any time. Pedestrians and cyclists can enter any time. There are designated boat landing areas in front of the Quarantine Station. Details: parks.vic.gov.au/projects
Picture: Yanni
Delays to ‘sharing’ home care data Liz Bell liz@mpnews.com.au MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council says the federal government refused to let it continue servicing home care clients after the changeover to private providers on 1 July, leaving thousands of clients in limbo. But aged care experts say the council should not have ditched its in-house home care service in the first place, with many clients now losing certainty of service.
About 4000 home care clients on the peninsula have been caught in the middle of the former Morrison government’s decision to move home care servicing to private providers (“Home care crisis after switch to private providers” The News 5/7/22). The changeover was not mandatory, and some councils have chosen to remain as home care providers. Critics of the shire’s decision say delays in transferring client information to providers Mecwacare and Bolton Clarke have seen clients miss-
ing vital support, with some still not knowing when help will come. Community services manager Jo Bradshaw said council’s offer to retain some staff to help with the transition “was declined by the Commonwealth government”. Bradshaw said the federal government gave the council eight weeks’ notice about the new providers. “We then wrote to 4000 clients to notify them of the new providers, ask them to name their preferred provider and get their consent to transfer their
information to the new provider,” she said. “We did experience a delay with some clients not responding to our two written requests for consent. These clients have now all been contacted by phone to gain their consent and provider preference.” Bradshaw said all information had been transferred to the new providers. Public health qualitative researcher Dr Sarah Russell was “surprised” council had moved to private providers instead of continuing to provide home care services itself.
“I am very disappointed [and] have contacted the mayor [Cr Anthony Marsh] to ask him [about] the process council used to choose Mecwacare and Bolton Clarke as the private providers,” she said. “Over the past few years, I have received several complaints about Mecwacare and Bolton Clarke; the most common is the number of different support workers being sent to older people’s homes. Older people feel very uncomfortable receiving personal care from a stranger. Continued Page 6