125 cases where SA aged care providers have needed to improve
More than 100 noncompliance notices have been issued to SA aged care providers in the past 10 months, with nursing homes, in-home care and meal delivery services in the gun. See the list.
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One hundred and twenty five South Australian aged care providers have been issued noncompliance orders in just ten months as the watchdog acts to protect the most vulnerable elderly South Australians.
These providers include everything from meal delivery and occupational therapy services to in-home nursing care and home maintenance such as gardners and cleaners.
The vast majority of these orders involve multiple breaches.
The crackdown by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission cuts across ethnic, religious, government, not-for profit and for profit groups providing at home services and residential aged care services.
In SA noncompliance orders were issued to councils including Salisbury, Marion, Tea Tree Gully, Playford and Gawler.
Nationally, more than 1000 orders to improve have been issued to non-profit organisations such as the Australian Red Cross, Royal District Nursing Service (Victoria), Meals on Wheels, Dementia Australia, Parkinson’s Australia and the YMCA as well as residential care homes.
Religious-based organisations slapped with noncompliance orders include Muslim Care, Jewish Care, Greek Orthodox, Catholic Healthcare, Anglicare, Uniting, Presbyterian Aged Care and Lutheran Homes.
Ethnic based organisations subjected to such orders range from Polish Community Care and the Chinese Fraternity Association to Taiwan Care, the Armenian Church, Vietnamese Community in Australia and Wyanga Aboriginal Aged Care.
Revelation of the noncompliance orders issued between July 1 2022 and April 30, 2023, comes as ten aged care facilities across South Australia were exposed as underperforming under the new aged care Star Rating system.
Nine scored just two stars overall out of a possible five – “Improvement needed” — while one scored just one star: “Significant improvement needed.”
The ratings were listed by the federal Department of Health and Aged Care as of May 3.
Four of the sites are run by not-for-profit groups and four are for-profit facilities including Gawler Grande Views which scored just one star in the overall rating.
It also scored just one star in the crucial “compliance” category which indicates “a decision such as a sanction has been made in response to a high level of risk to people receiving aged care.”
Two facilities are run by SA Health however it says one — the Barmera Residential Aged Care Facility — has subsequently received a three star rating while the other — Hills Mallee Southern Aged Care — has since moved residents to the Aminya Residential Aged Care community based service.
Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network chief executive Wayne Champion said: “This means now that every SA Health-run aged care facility is now rated at least three stars or higher, which is a testament to the wonderful work being done across the sector to improve facilities for older people.”
He said the competition between the Hills Mallee Southern Residential Aged Care Facility and Aminya made both services unsustainable.
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