The Australian government has finalised a A$220 billion hospital funding deal with the states and territories.

A key part of the negotiation was $2 billion designed to help hospitals move more than 3,000 patients stranded in hospital waiting for discharge to a more appropriate aged-care facility.

However this wasn’t included in the final agreement. Instead, the states will need to dip into their overall funding allocation to pay for any changes.

Being stuck in hospital is not good for older people or their families. Stranded older people are at risk of getting an infection in hospital. Their families are under pressure to find and agree to long-term support.

It’s also bad for hospitals, which end up allocating scarce resources to patients who could be much more efficiently looked after in a residential care facility or with home support.

This results in unhappy patients and families, much higher health-care costs, and longer waits for others who need hospital care.

So how did we get into this situation? And what might happen next?

Most older people waiting for discharge need a pathway to rehabilitation and ongoing support. That includes transition care to facilities such as rehabilitation centres or units and ongoing support at home, or residential care.

About 60% of older patients discharged from hospital through transition care go home; the remainder need residential care.

Discharge is more likely to be delayed when this transition care is unavailable........

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