Perth couple married for 68 years plead to be reunited after aged care separation

A Perth couple married for over half a century have been separated by what relatives say is aged care red tape.

Alf and Hetty Craster, great grandparents both in their late 80s, were separated after Alf suffered a fall at the Armadale facility where they were both living.

He was moved to Fremantle Hospital, while wife Hetty, who suffers dementia, remained at the facility.

Mr Craster, who requires around-the-clock care and whose health has begun to deteriorate, is begging to be reunited with his wife of 68 years.

“It’s beyond me,” Mr Craster told 9NEWS

“I don’t understand why I can’t be with her. She loves me and I love her.”

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Mr Craster's daughter Liz said the couple have found the situation very stressful.

“How do you explain to an 87- and 89-year-old that a system doesn’t know anything about them and wants to keep them apart?” she said.

“It’s wrong on so many levels.”

Liz said she and her family are seeking to have the couple placed together. Mr Craster has been on a waiting list for six months.

“The aged care spokesperson said, ‘We can’t just magic a bed out of nowhere’,” she said.

“We're not asking them to, we're asking them to prioritise his placement. That’s all we are asking.

“We were told by CEO the next placement would be given to a funded resident. My father’s not funded.”

Their desperate family has started an online petition, calling on the Federal Minister for Aging Ken Wyatt to intervene.

The petition has already received more than 3000 signatures.

Mr Wyatt has since issued a statement saying he’s demanding a report on the case be delivered immediately.

“I can understand the distress (the Crasters and their family) are going through,” he said.

“This is an unfortunate situation that, in part, reflects the shortage of residential aged care beds in Western Australia.

“There will be 3295 new aged care places made available this year to WA and there is widespread construction of new residential care facilities to meet the growing demand.”