00:04Mary Wansie's life is confined to these four walls.
00:09The 84-year-old has been stranded in hospital for 19 months.
00:14Life in hospital every day is monotonous and it's sad.
00:21In August 2024, a misdiagnosed tumour destroyed her spinal cord at T4.
00:27It just happened overnight. By morning I was paralysed.
00:31Her carefully planned twilight years were replaced with a hospital bed.
00:36There's a lot of sadness, yeah, for all of us. Sorry.
00:44The family's biggest struggle has been finding an aged care provider.
00:48They've lost track of how many applications they've lodged.
00:52It just never occurred to me that this could happen.
00:55You know, we've fallen into a black hole.
00:58It just seems it doesn't matter what we do or where we apply.
01:04People aged over 65 who acquire a disability aren't eligible for NDIS support.
01:10They're supposed to be helped by the aged care sector.
01:13Our experience is that that is actually not the case.
01:15And I think for as long as providers are able to make a determination about who they'll take
01:21and who they won't take, the chances of her getting a place anywhere, it actually feels impossible.
01:27In September last year, Mary was given a bed at Canberra's Our Care Aranda on a rolling respite agreement.
01:34She was denied a permanent place due to the complexity of her care needs.
01:40The operators then proposed moving her from a disability accessible room to a smaller one.
01:46I wouldn't have been safe in that room.
01:48I couldn't have moved.
01:50Day to day, I'd have to clean my teeth in the shower and just spit it wherever I was over
01:57me.
01:57That prompted a return to hospital.
02:00The facility says it was a voluntary discharge.
02:04Mary's family say they were coerced.
02:07The way that we treat people with a disability is disgusting.
02:10Mary's case is an extreme example of bed block, but she's not alone.
02:15There are about 70 people in ACT hospitals waiting for an aged care placement.
02:20And with an ageing population, it's an even bigger national issue
02:24with state and territory leaders and advocates calling for urgent action.
02:30They estimate somewhere around 10,000 new beds per year for the next 10 years.
02:35An extra 100,000 beds need to come online.
02:37That's a lot of aged care facilities when you think about the average number of beds per nursing home is
02:43about 70.
02:44Mary's husband, who suffers from cognitive impairment, is now a patient at the same hospital.
02:50Hopes of them finding a place at the same aged care facility have faded.
02:56My biggest fear is that he will be placed and I won't ever be with him again.
03:02She believes she may never leave hospital.
03:05Until it gets across that we're actually people and that we need to finish our lives with dignity,
03:16it's horrifying and it's very frightening not knowing.
03:23Final years that ought not be fraught with fear.
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