Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has unapologetically backed his Government’s “ambitious” aged care targets despite bigger providers calling for extended exemptions and many facilities closing due to looming new mandatory compliance requirements.
Last week, HelloCare reported that all three of the Wesley Mission Sydney aged care facilities have been scheduled for closure at the end of May, as impending regulatory changes take effect on July 1 – impacting about 200 residents and their families who now need to find alternative care.
On the other side of the country, Perth aged care provider, Brightwater, also announced it will close three of its 12 residential facilities in the next year as it struggles to meet the requirements due to a lack of staff.
From July 1, all aged care facilities will be required to have a Registered Nurse on-site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week but at the end of last month, the Federal Government confirmed it would fail to meet the ambitious July 1 nursing deadline as one in 20 facilities would not have the staff.
About 5% of facilities have been granted a 12-month exemption from the requirement for homes with under 30 beds in rural and remote settings but bigger providers are also struggling and some want to see the exemption requirements extended to include these organisations.
Tom Symondson, Aged & Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is also pushing for those exemptions to be extended.
“We’ve got much larger providers, particularly in rural and regional areas, that are struggling to meet that 24/7 nursing requirement so we need to make sure they’re not being punished for something that everybody can see they cannot meet,” he told ABC Radio.
But this morning, Mr Albanese defended his Government’s policy on another ABC Radio segment, saying that close to 90% of residential facilities would meet the 24/7 nursing requirements.
“The fact that 90% have met the (staffing) requirements already shows that we make no apologies for being ambitious in this area,” he said.
“But we’re also being very practical about the way that these issues are dealt with.
“Workforce is a challenge in aged care and that’s why the Government has committed to funding the 15% increase in the award wage for workers.”
Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) CEO, Craig Gear, spoke with The Daily Telegraph, sharing ways aged care residents and their families can put the power back into their own hands.
Mr Gear said concerned relatives in other homes should ask their provider what their future plans are, and if there are to be any changes, which is their right under the Charter of Aged Care Rights.
“We want to reassure people that this can be done smoothly, and help take the anxiety away,” he said.
“Older people have the right to information about things that might affect their care and support.
“There should be open disclosure.”
In the instances of the Wesley Mission and Brightwater closures, affected residents should be assisted by their providers and the Government to find a variety of other options for them. If you are affected it is important to liaise with your provider and the Department of Health and Aged Care.
But if residents and their families are looking for a new facility on their own, the Government’s five star ratings reflect the performance of Australian aged care facilities and is a tool that can help find appropriate care.
Facilities are given a rating out of five and these results are published on the My Aged Care website for consumers to access.
To help answer all your questions and receive support in this, consumers can contact OPAN by calling 1800 700 600 or visiting their website.
The Star ratings are a nonsense. We currently already meet the care and RN minutes requirements target and reported so at the last QFR. Despite that we received a two start rating for staffing levels. The whole process is a farce. Our residents who predominantly do not speak English, were interviewed by the assessment team for the star ratings without an interpreter, for the second year in a row.
Aged care recipients better served by community services such as local council, district nursing serves and local nursing homes local libraries and meals on wheels where they are treated as care recipients and not customers. Providers for years have been able to charge refundable deposits RADs basically to invest in real estate . The bigger the providers the more they can get as RADs money to build empires and and afford their lawyers and creative accountants. Big providers with numerous nursing are closing them . The big providers have numerous entities and they pay untold high wages to their lawyers and creative accounts and ceos and top numerous managers who provide not one minute of care for Agedcarejustice recipients in residential aged care facilities.
Where star system fails because it does not collect data re numbers of recipient at dirferent levels of costly care and those with lesser nursing needs . Higher level aged cate recipients do receive more funding to providers in order to to clinically experienced hands on nursing care to care for to assist and mentor carers and Enrolled nurses. Star system is not fit for purpose nor is the system accountable for it customer business focus and not delivery “the goods” however there is no consumer protection here . With use hire firm casual staff such as carers costed out at Hugh rates and paid less than half . I believe Clinically experienced nurses will not be attracted or retained if they do not have regular caring carers and enrolled nurse and allied staff to be able to enable continuity of staff for benefit of quality ad safe care for aged care recipients. Many so called registered nurses do course because they hav a passion for management and not nursing. It is had to attract and keep clinically trained Nurses if they have to work with such Nurse Managers . Smaller providers are supported or as influential as the big providers abbd so called aged care peak bodies none of which were responsible for the aged care Royal Comimission. The have unionised. Instead and closing many of their nursing homes