Andy D
Aged care facilities will now be constantly monitored via the Australian Government “Star Ratings”. These quality ratings for aged care homes were introduced in response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. It is really important for the maximum benefit to be achieved from these ratings, that aged care residents, and their loved ones complete these surveys in a timely and accurate manner when requested to do so.
Star Ratings, a tool that helps older people be more informed as they start the journey into residential aged care. By searching the MyAgedCare.gov.au ‘Find a provider’ tool, older people and their support networks can research and compare the quality, safety, and services on offer across residential aged care homes.
Heightened transparency about the quality of care, safety and services of residential aged care homes, allows people to compare aged care homes with an Overall Star Rating and also across 4 sub-categories of measure.
The sub-categories that can be compared include, Residents’ Experience, Compliance, Staffing and Quality Measures.
The Residents’ Experience category reflects how people feel about the care they are receiving. Around 20% of all residents every year are surveyed about their overall experiences at their home.
The compliance category reflects how well the aged care home is meeting its obligations to provide safe, quality care and services to its residents.
The staffing category measures the average amount of care time residents receive from nurses and care workers, using the minimum average care targets the Australian Government sets as the base level.
The quality category measures 5 areas of care that are important indicators of care quality, and this includes falls and major injury, unexplained weight loss, pressure injuries, medication management and the use of restrictive practices.
The “Find a provider” tool aged care providers to monitor, compare and improve the quality of their service.
