Australia’s Aged Care Minister, Anika Wells, has voiced her disappointment over the failure of some residential aged care providers to meet their care minute quotas, despite a significant boost in government funding aimed at improving care standards.
In an open letter addressed to providers, Wells emphasised the critical importance of staffing levels, stating that they are “vital to the quality of care for older people living in residential aged care homes.”
The care minute quotas, introduced as a key recommendation from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, became mandatory on 1 October 2023. Wells described the initiative as a “once in a lifetime change” aimed at improving the safety and quality of care for older Australians.
According to Wells, many providers have made “significant efforts” to increase staffing levels, with sector-wide average care minutes rising to 207.7 minutes per resident per day, including 41.4 registered nurse minutes. However, she also noted that “a significant proportion of homes are not meeting their individual targets.
” This trend is particularly evident among for-profit providers and facilities located in metropolitan areas, where compliance is “disproportionally low” compared to rural and regional areas, despite workforce constraints typically being more challenging in the latter.
Wells pointed out that the Government has invested over $15.1 billion to increase aged care wages, enabling providers to employ more staff and meet their care minute obligations.
“This is disappointing,” she remarked, in light of the fact that “care funding will be around 58% higher than it was in September 2022.” From October 2024, providers are expected to deliver an average of 215 care minutes per resident per day, including 44 registered nurse minutes.
Wells stressed that the Government expects providers to spend the increased funding on meeting their mandatory care minutes.
She made it clear that the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has her full support to enforce compliance where necessary, noting, “I support the Commission to use its full range of regulatory powers to enforce compliance with care minutes if aged care homes are not making genuine attempts to increase their staffing levels, which could lead to resident harm and safety.”
Despite her concerns, Wells offered a measure of support to providers facing genuine workforce challenges, particularly those in rural and remote areas. She revealed that the Department of Health and Aged Care is exploring “funding options to improve care minute delivery” without adding financial pressure to aged care homes operating in thin markets. The department will consult with key stakeholders and advisory bodies to assess these options.
Wells concluded her letter by urging providers to actively work toward compliance, assuring them that the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will “continue to actively monitor risks and work with you to improve your compliance with these responsibilities.”
She further highlighted that a care minute fact sheet for workers has been published to ensure they are fully informed of this responsibility.
Anika Wells may be feeling the frustration that many residents and families feel when dealing with those Age Care Providers that are totally immovable on any subject. Some Providers still do the bare minimum they can get away with. No wonder they have staffing problems, who would want to work for them ?
I would be very surprised if the Age Care Quality and Safety Commission does not know which Providers are the worst. The Minister should ask what action has been taken in each case, the answer is likely to be “…well not much Minister but we will write them a stern letter….”
Sooo many responses and issues with this piece. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much money you throw at a problem (which by the way does not mitigate your responsibility towards solving it) without addressing the underlying causes. These causes can be attributed to: availability of registered nurses, interest in the specialty area of age care, desire to practice clinical expertise and not complete endless paperwork for regulatory butt covering, and the biggest white elephant-the lack of recognition or professional disrespect shown to our cohort of Enrolled Nurses whose expertise, professionalism and experience in the age care spectrum is not acknowledge, although the very generous 10% recognition is an absolute disrespect to them and an administrative burden.
And the home care package providers need to be looked into as well
Anika the reason why aged care can’t get staff is because Covid destroyed mental health and demands were soul destroying. If you were to be present at a handover in a high care floor at 7.00 a.m where staff are non existent and residents are shouting and abusing staff then maybe you would understand that money is not the main reason. It is the constant demands on care staff without who the aged care industry would self implode within 24 hours.
I can only comment on our own experience. Meeting care minutes is challenging for us only due to lack of suitably experienced and talented Registered Nurses. We see RNs fresh out of university demanding CN level pay as they know there is a severe shortage. Agency costs are astronomical, so all of that “extra” funding gets burned away. More respect to our experienced and talented Enrolled Nurses, not a token gesture of 10% would help. It will take a few years to get enough RNs trained, but then have to hope that SA Health doesn’t recruit them all again for the acute sector… Why an open letter? Just target those who are gaming the system and leave us small providers out of the catch-all threat letters…
It’s a shame that lifestyle was not considered important in these care minutes. We were not catered for with the money invested by the government. Homes now want the care team to deliver meaningful engagement to each resident every day in line with personal care. It doesn’t work. Before the care minutes our residents had fun and meaningful activities, the lifestyle team were extra hands when work was heavy or behaviours testing. Now they don’t get anything to make their last few years on this earth worthwhile.
Care providers in Albany WA are terrible and get their money for nothing.its a standing joke.
I applaud and thank the government for mandating care minutes , unfortunately a unintentional reaction by some organisations worrying only about meeting care mins now has seen decreased leisure and lifestyle staffing and hours who’s role is predominantly meeting choice, independence , social, cultural, physical, religious and spiritual needs through meaningful engagement, community connections in providing support and leisure activities. This unintentioned consequence I believe has probably contributed to increased falls, changed behaviours and SIRS incidences. I believe after 25 years in the industry the addition of a similar funding tool like the previous RCS will go along way to ensuring a quality , variety of workforce which will be better equipped to meet all the needs of our aged care residents. The RCS funded social support, diversional therapy, music/ art therapy as well as specific funded questions for physio/ mobility, nursing , wound management etc . Keep the variety of trained workforce from allied health ,recreational therapy, leisure and lifestyle so they can concerntrate on delivering good individual assessed person centred programs instead of diluting the quality of care with general workers who already have a demanding personal care workload and are becoming task driven time poor resulting in decreased quality and rushed care, this does not allow for a meaningful connection between staff and residents .