Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) has welcomed the Australian Government’s announcement that the majority of residential aged care homes have successfully met the promised 24/7 nursing requirements.
“Round-the-clock nursing is key to safe, high quality aged care, including safe, high quality dementia care, which older people and their families have been demanding,” said OPAN CEO, Craig Gear OAM.
According to data released today, 86% of providers have met the 24/7 nursing in residential aged care mandate in the first month since it was introduced.
And on average, there is a registered nurse onsite at a residential aged care home 98% of the time.
“These figures suggest we can now build to significantly improve care for older people living in aged care homes, who now have rapid access to the right level of clinical support,” said Mr Gear.
“We know health-related incidents can occur at any time of the day or night. Round-the-clock nursing is also crucial in the delivery of timely and appropriate palliative care.
“OPAN congratulates the sector, and in particular aged care providers, on achieving this positive outcome in the face of significant workforce challenges.
“We know there has been a focus on the 1 July deadline and this reporting period. A continued focus on retaining and valuing staff will be required to ensure we can sustain and further build upon this successful model.”
Mr Gear noted that the government had granted exemptions to a small number of providers who were struggling to achieve the required staffing levels.
“We acknowledge that rural, regional and remote aged care homes face additional challenges, but the timeline for these exemptions must be clearly defined and regularly reviewed,” he said.
“In such circumstances, older people must have access to alternative arrangements and there must be rigorous oversight of the efficacy of these arrangements.”
