Nov 20, 2020

Aged care performance data must be made public

Consumers need easy access to data about the performance of individual aged care facilities so that they can make informed decisions, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

ALA spokesperson and aged care advocate Catherine Henry welcomed this week’s release of a research paper detailing performance against 50 aged care quality and safety indicators by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

“The information released by the Royal Commission was made public for the first time,” Ms Henry said.

“We would not accept this lack of transparency in any other setting.

“Older Australians are suffering and at risk in aged care facilities and those caring for them face an uphill battle to provide appropriate care. Families need access to quality performance data so that they can make informed decisions about placement of their elderly relatives.

“The research report shows that accessing the data is possible. To make this information useful for families it needs to be publicly available and narrowed down to individual facilities.

“Families choosing a child care facility can easily go online and check whether the individual facilities in their local area meet, exceed or fail to reach the expected quality standards. In both the UK and the US, this type of quality information about individual aged care facilities is available online with a simple postcode search.

“Similar publicly available information about the performance of aged care facilities in Australia will help to support consumer choice and, importantly, motivate aged care facilities to improve.”

Ms Henry said the report also showed that aged care facilities run by the state and not-for- profit organisations performed better across the indicators than those run by for-profit organisations.

“The privatisation of the aged care sector in 1997 has not worked. It’s a system that was designed by providers for providers. We agree with the recommendation made by Counsel assisting the Royal Commission that it’s time for a new Aged Care Act that embeds quality indicators and better regulation of the sector’s performance.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

The terrible reality of how far people have to travel to access aged care

New research from the Office of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety has revealed just how far from home aged care is for older people. Read More

Experts weigh in on the royal commissioners split opinion for allied health

Allied health services have been cut in aged care in recent years due to a lack of funding. The royal commission has outlined plans to ensure recipients of aged care services receive dental health, rehab, advice about diet, and more, in order to maximise their quality of life. Read More

Aged Care Guild disbanding to make way for new provider led reform group

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety has been an opportunity for a community wide conversation to reframe the concept of ageing and aged care. It is a once in a generation opportunity to comprehensively and holistically improve the aged care system.    The aged care landscape has changed significantly over the last... Read More
Advertisement
Exit mobile version