Nursing is one of the most searched aged care topics, and one of the most misunderstood. Here is the headline most people miss: nursing under Support at Home is clinical care, and clinical care is fully government-funded. It does not come out of your package budget. Here are nine plain-English ways to make the most of that.
1. Know that nursing is free to you
Clinical care, including registered nursing, is funded separately by the government. A nursing visit does not reduce the money available for cleaning, personal care, or social support. This is the single most important point: nursing under Support at Home costs your budget nothing.
2. Use the nursing care your plan allows
Because nursing does not draw on your budget, the saving is in using it. If a nurse can manage your medications, monitor a chronic condition, or care for a wound, ask your case manager to include that in your care plan. You are using funded care, not spending your own.
3. Do not pay privately for what Support at Home covers
Some people pay out of their own pocket for private nursing visits, not realising their Support at Home plan can cover the same clinical care at no cost. Before paying privately, ask your provider whether the service can be delivered as funded clinical care.
4. Ask for a nursing review before problems grow
A small issue checked early by a nurse is cheaper and safer than a big one later. Since nursing is funded, there is no budget reason to delay. Ask for a nursing assessment when something changes, rather than waiting.
5. Let the nurse, not a GP visit, handle routine checks
Many routine clinical tasks, such as blood pressure monitoring or wound dressing, can be done at home by a Support at Home nurse. Using funded home nursing for these can save you trips and gap fees elsewhere.
6. Choose a provider that uses its clinical entitlement well
Some providers are better than others at building clinical care into a plan. Ask a prospective provider how they include nursing and allied health. A provider that uses your funded clinical entitlement fully is getting you more care overall.
7. Keep your care plan up to date
Nursing needs change. A plan written a year ago may miss nursing care you now need, or include visits you no longer do. Ask for a care plan review after any health change so the nursing in your plan matches your real situation.
8. Combine nursing with allied health
Allied health, such as physiotherapy and podiatry, is also fully government-funded clinical care. Used together with nursing, it keeps you well at no cost to your package budget. Ask your case manager about the full clinical menu.
9. Choose a self-managed package for everything else
Nursing is funded, but personal care, cleaning, and social support are not. A self-managed package keeps fees low and can deliver close to twice the care hours of a high-fee fully-coordinated package. So use funded nursing fully, and use a self-managed package to stretch the rest.
The bottom line
You do not save on nursing by cutting it, because it is already free to you. You save by using your full nursing entitlement and not paying privately for clinical care your plan covers.
See how a self-managed package stretches your non-clinical budget with the SAH budget calculator, and compare providers in your area with the find-care comparison.