South Australia’s best aged care homes under the federal government’s new star ratings

The verdict is in on SA’s best aged care homes under the federal government’s new star rating system – and the winners may come as a surprise. See the full list of top-rated homes.

South Australia’s best residential aged care homes are a discreet not-for-profit facility tucked away in Paradise and a small government run service at Clare.

The federal Department of Health and Aged Care’s new star rating system gives the only overall five-star honours in South Australia to Amber Aged Care at Paradise and Kara House at Clare, as of the latest quarterly update released last month.

The ratings were introduced as a recommendation from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety as an easy way for residents and families to judge residential aged care facilities.

The overall star rating is made up of ratings for the four categories of compliance, residents’ experiences, staffing, and quality and safety.

Kara House won five stars for three of these categories and four stars for the residents’ experience category, while Amber Aged Care had five stars for compliance and staffing and four stars for residents’ experiences and quality and safety.

In addition to the two five star-rated homes, there were a further 71 four star-rated homes across the state.

Under the star rating system, five stars is considered “excellent” while four stars is considered “good”.

Three stars is “acceptable”, two stars means “improvement needed” while one star indicates “significant improvement needed”.

The Advertiser last week revealed the homes in SA with only two stars, as well as the 125 non-compliance notices that been issued to aged care providers since July last year.

Kara House, co-located with Clare Hospital, is a 25-bed complex for older people with high level of needs for care. Its facilities include secure premises for residents with dementia.

Amber Aged Care was established in 1992 and all income is invested into the maintenance and improvement of its facility and services.

It is a 32-bed facility which welcomes residents from all cultural backgrounds and especially those with an Estonian, Latvian or Lithuanian heritage.

Accommodation consists of eight rooms per house with a central lounge and private dining area. It has undercover outdoor areas and wide open spaces.

Amber Aged Care, staff with a resident. Picture supplied by Amber Aged Care.

Amber Aged Care manager Dominique Evele said the dedicated staff are devoted to giving residents the best quality of life possible in a warm and homely environment.

“Being a small organisation, we have the ability to develop more personal relationships with both residents and their advocates – which in turn assists us to closely monitor and resolve concerns in a timely manner improving the outcomes for all involved,” Ms Evele said.

“At Amber Aged Care we embrace our residents as part of our family.

“It is also important that the facility is family focused when considering our staff and by having an awareness that staff have personal commitments outside of work and may need flexibility in their roster.

“Amber Aged Care tries to accommodate people’s rosters whilst ensuring the needs of the business are met.”

The centre’s staff are crucial to residents’ wellbeing and Ms Evele noted the centre has a core group of long-term employees who have been dedicated to Amber for more than five years. “These staff help support, train and mentor our new employees,” she said.

“Unfortunately, though, aged care is a work force that is quite transient due to study progression or change in career path and subsequently as an organisation we have to be prepared for the regular upskilling and employment of new staff members.

“Being a small team, we work incredibly hard to support each other and to ensure staff’s physical and emotional wellbeing is maintained.

“We try to support as best as possible a flexible roster around family commitments. Our recruitment strategy supports a diverse and inclusive workforce which also has a positive impact on the organisation.”

Staff at Kara House: Wendy Mae Hoare, Manpreet Kaur, Simone Lalic, Claire Patterson, Bronwyn Udy, Abbey Lane. Picture supplied by SA Health

Yorke and Northern Local Health Network director of nursing and midwifery of Clare Hospital and Kara House, Jodie Kernick, described Kara House as a friendly, welcoming environment.

“The team have worked to meet not only the accreditation standards but the expectations of the care recipients and their families,” she said.

“We endeavour to do this in partnership with the community and in an environment that is always seeking to provide the best possible care.

“The staff at Kara House strive to optimise the experience of each resident by providing person centred care which meets their individual needs.

“Our staff have a passion for providing high quality aged care and are supported to undertake further studies in the specialty of aged care. We are also active participants in the Rural Support Services Residential Aged Care Palliative care program.”

Kara House resident Colleen Howarth

Kara House resident Lola Upton.

While Amber Aged Care and Kara House were awarded five stars overall, another 71 facilities across the state were awarded four stars overall.

In the subcategories of star ratings, two facilities won five stars in the residents’ experience category – the for-profit Semaphore Residential Aged Care and the Wakefield Aged Care Service at Riverton and Eudunda run by the state government’s Yorke and Northern Local Health Network.

Kara House resident Ken Nunn.

Kara House resident Kevin Read.

More than 50 facilities scored five stars for quality and safety, while around 90 scored top honours for the crucial compliance category where a low rating can result in sanctions.

Twelve facilities including Kara House and Amber Aged Care won five stars in the staffing category. These were:

Ira Parker Nursing Home at Balaclava;

Lourdes Valley Lodge at Myrtle Bank;

Ardrossan Community Hostel;

John Paul II Village Residential Care at Klemzig;

Strathalbyn and District Aged Care Facility;

Estia Parkside;

Naracoorte Health Service;

Keith and District Hospital;

Port Pirie Regional Health Service;

Jamestown Hospital.

Six of these facilities are government run, five are not-for-profit and one is for-profit.

The key to getting your parent into a good aged care home

By Brad Crouch

Forget chandeliers and grand entrances, you have to dig much deeper to find the best residential aged care homes for your loved ones.

Good staff is one of the key factors, from activity co-ordinators and the nursing team to administration, dining room staff and cleaners who form a de facto family for residents and really do turn an aged care home, into a home.

I know this from the harrowing personal experience of finding a place for my dear old Mum, Noela Long, now aged 91, who loves the staff at Resthaven Leabrook.

Resthaven Leabrook resident Colleen Smith with staff member Shah Naz and resident Noela Long. Picture supplied by Resthaven.

Putting a loved one into aged care is an emotional roller coaster for all concerned, with feelings of guilt and worry while navigating the bewildering paper work and financial minefield, let alone actually finding a vacancy in a place relatively nearby that you think/hope/pray will be good.

I’m yet to find an elderly person who really wants to be uprooted from their own home – the final surrender of independence – and be put in an aged care home which they probably recall from their own youth as corridors of horror.

Today’s homes are vastly different of course, with private rooms with ensuites, peaceful gardens and daily activities, but that does not make it any easier.

In my own case, like many others, we put off the issue until the tsunami hit, in this case the pandemic.

My stepfather had died not long beforehand after an incredibly sad slide into dementia. Mum was living alone in regional NSW in a two-storey house and also was having memory issues, although was as optimistic and cheerful as ever.

The pandemic hit, I got wind borders would close and it was time for a hard, instant decision.

In what I dubbed Mission: Impossible, Operation Hot Extraction, I raced to the airport, jumped on a plane to Sydney then Lismore, in 48 hours packed up the house and put it on the market.

We hitched a ride with Mum’s friend to the Gold Coast and got the last Virgin flight into Adelaide before our borders shut.

It was pretty clear Mum had not been taking her medication or eating properly.

After living with us for a while the vacancy came up at Resthaven. Regular meals and meds made a huge difference, and though it took a while to settle in, she regards it as her home – and she knows I am nearby, not a state away.

The paperwork and finances are a nightmare, prompting me to write this Dummies Guide to Aged Care. You’ll need to update the figures but I’m hoping it helps if you need it.

There are brokers who will do the paperwork for a fee.

If the time is coming and the need for a residential aged care home is on the horizon, the federal government’s star guide is good, but word of mouth is much better.

Just don’t wait for a tsunami, like a fall or a sudden illness, to hit, when your loved one ends up in hospital then is unable to return to live at home alone.

At least consider the options and get your head around the challenge that may be ahead to ensure your loved ones are taken care of in the style you would want for yourself.