Aged Care watchdog uses powers to crackdown on providers failing care minute targets

The watchdog is targeting aged care homes who are not providing the legally required amount of care for residents, despite receiving extra funding. See the list.

The aged care watchdog has launched a crackdown on homes who are getting extra Government money, but not spending it on providing care for residents.

The Government has ploughed billions of extra dollars into aged care since 2022, but data shows only a quarter of for-profit aged care providers and half of not-for-profit providers are meeting both their registered nurse and total care minute targets.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission said 27 homes, operated by 11 providers, are now under enforceable undertakings, which are legally binding, and listed on the watchdog’s website. Examples of actions that providers have agreed to take include immediate recruitment of more nursing and care staff.

The homes, all are for profit apart from one, are in metropolitan areas, surrounded by other providers who are meeting their targets.

One provider TriCare, which operates in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, has nine homes on the list.

Janet Anderson, Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner. Britta Campion / The Australian

“The Commission is being firm and fair with these providers and we are using our regulatory powers to hold them to account,” Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner, Janet Anderson, said.

“Failure to deliver mandatory care minutes where there is an absence of tangible effort to achieve these targets could lead to sanctions and financial penalties.”

Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells wrote an open letter last year, warning providers to buck up their ideas, after noticing compliance with care minutes was disproportionately low in metropolitan areas, and among for profit run-homes.

While there is a workforce shortage, predominantly in rural areas, providers have been given more money for staff. Average care funding has increased in the past two years and is now around 58 per cent higher than it was in September 2022.

The United Workers Union (UWU) Aged Care Director Catalina Gonzalez said federal government figures show the 900 for-profit providers are worse in every metric against their 1500 not-for-profit peers when it comes to care minute targets.

“The inescapable conclusion is that for-profit providers are benefiting from billions in extra funding while dragging their feet on obligations to increase care-time minutes,” Ms Gonzalez said.

“It is, frankly, shocking how slowly for-profit providers are implementing these historic reforms.”

TriCare Mermaid Beach in Queensland is one of nine TriCare homes who has been pulled up by the watchdog.

UWU said late last year it examined the worst providers in the sector for meeting care-time obligations, they were all large for-profit providers: Opal, Estia, BUPA, Hall & Prior and TriCare.

Roald Versteeg from the Aged & Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA), the peak body for providers of residential aged care, said there are ongoing workforce shortages across Australia, including in metro areas, which impact on the ability of providers to meet care minute targets in full.

“We understand and support the need for well-designed reform, but there is clearly an issue between legislative requirements and the reality on the ground,” Mr Versteeg said.

A spokesman for TriCare said they would not be commenting.

Originally published as Aged Care watchdog uses powers to crackdown on providers failing care minute targets