New Health Department rating system shows aged care homes working, and spectacularly failing

Far North Queensland’s worst-rated aged care homes have been revealed in a new Commonwealth Government star-rating system. Search the list.

Far North Queensland’s aged care homes have been rated from best to worst in a new federal government star-rating system, though industry voices are already warning of inherent flaws in the rankings.

Of the 24 residential facilities in the Far North, none received the five-star “excellent” rating.

Six received four stars, classified as “good”.

Ten received three stars, or “acceptable” and three received two stars, meaning “improvement needed”.

In the rating system one star means “significant improvement needed”, but no Far North facilities were in that category.

Many homes around the country do not show a rating on the My Aged Care website because they have disputed the rating the Department of Health has issued them.

Five facilities in the North have disputed the government rating.

In the Far North, Warrina at Innisfail, Blue Care Mareeba Aged Care Facility and Kubirri Residential Care Centre at Mossman were rated with two stars.

Nine per cent of homes around the country received two stars, so at 12.5 per cent the Far North is broadly in line with the national trend.

Five homes in Far North Queensland have disputed the Commonwealth Government star rating. Picture: iStock.

President of the management committee at Pyramid Residential Care Centre in Gordonvale, Paul Gregory, said he was not satisfied with the star rating system.

“I think there is an inherent flaw in the ratings system, there are a lot of generalisations,” he said.

“The aged care industry in Australia is very diverse, and we are a small regional facility that is a not-for-profit.”

Mr Gregory said his organisation’s focus was on resident wellbeing, and that family feedback was always positive.

“We achieved a ‘three’ as did the vast majority of facilities in Australia,” he said.

“I think the star rating needs to be broken into categories so we’re not competing with a large provider in the city.

“There’s an inherent flaw in the system and the industry has started to push back against that.”

The Federal government has introduced a star rating system for aged care facilities, with a five-star rating being excellent and a one-star rating meaning “significant improvement needed”. Pyramid Residential Care Centre registered nurses Rani Thankachan and Elvira Reyes, facility manager Jennie Cotterill and administration staff Charmain Kimpjut take pride in the work they do at the Gordonvale aged care home. Picture: Brendan Radke

‘This is terrible’

Federal Secretary of the Australian Nurses and Midwives Federation Annie Butler echoed Mr Gregory’s comments.

“The response from some providers is ‘this is terrible’, and we agree,” she said.

“When we get this star rating embedded and it’s rigorous and reliable, we will need a cultural shift that looks towards continuous improvement.

“The star system is a great first step to moving towards the transparency and accountability we really need, but the current results are probably pretty skewed and will take some time for the system to really mature.

“The way they are weighted allows too much room for not a thoroughly accurate picture around staffing.

“You could hide – I’m not saying they’re deliberately hiding it – it’s just the way it’s working at the moment.
“We need to get better reliability in the results.”

The Older Persons Advocacy Network is calling for is calling for an urgent improvement plan for the residential care homes that have rated poorly.

The result of the Royal Commission into aged care released in March last year found more than half of all Australian aged care residents were in homes with only one- or two-star staffing levels, and only 15 per cent were in homes rated at four or five stars.

“The royal commission showed us what the reality is, and the star rating shows us what the deficits are,” Ms Butler said.

Empowering residents

Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) CEO Craig Gear said while the new Star Ratings would empower residents to make informed choices about where they want to live, he had serious concerns for older people currently living in aged care homes that have received a one or two-star rating.

“An urgent improvement plan must be put in place for each of these residential aged care homes,” he said.

“Providers have had ample opportunity to lift their game in the wake of the Commission’s damning report, which was tabled in parliament in March 2021.”

Pyramid Residential Care Centre registered nurses Elvira Reyes and Rani Thankachan in the nursing station at the Gordonvale aged care home. Picture: Brendan Radke

National Seniors Australia Chief Advocate, Ian Henschke, said the new Star Ratings would provide a reference point for people so long as they understand what the ratings mean.

“It will take some time for the data to become meaningful and for people to understand how this system differs from the general star rating system we associate with hotel accommodation,” Mr Henschke said.

For example, a three-star rating for a hotel is one that delivers a broad range of amenities that exceed above-average accommodation needs and good quality service, design and physical attributes that are typically fit for purpose to match guest expectations.

“But in Aged Care three stars means it’s ‘acceptable’ and that could be an aged care home with an improvement notice on it,” he said.

The FNQ homes rated:

Multi-purpose Health Service

Babinda QLD 4861

Overall Star Rating: no rating available

Edge Hill Orchards

Manoora QLD 4870

Overall Star Rating: 4

Blue Care Hollingsworth Elders Village

Cairns QLD 4870

Overall Star Rating: 4

Blue Care Mareeba Aged Care Facility

Mareeba QLD 4880

Overall Star Rating: 2

Bolton Clarke Farnorha

Westcourt QLD 4870

Overall Star Rating: 3

Bupa Cairns

Mooroobool QLD 4870

Overall Star Rating: 3

Bupa Mt Sheridan

White Rock QLD 4868

Overall Star Rating: 3

Carinya Home For The Aged

Atherton QLD 4883

Overall Star Rating: 4

Carinya (Atherton) Hostel

Atherton QLD 4883

Overall Star Rating: 3

Cooktown Multipurpose Health Service

Cooktown QLD 4895

Overall Star Rating: no rating available

Hope Vale Aged Hostel

Hope Vale QLD 4895

Overall Star Rating: no rating available

Kewarra Beach Aged Care

Kewarra Beach QLD 4879

Overall Star Rating: 4

Kubirri Residential Care Centre

Mossman QLD 4873

Overall Star Rating: 2

Mercy Place Cairns (Bethlehem)

Westcourt QLD 4870

Overall Star Rating: 3

Mossman Multipurpose Health Service

Mossman QLD 4873

Overall Star Rating: no rating available

Mt Kooyong Convalescent Home

Julatten QLD 4871

Overall Star Rating: 3

Mutkin Residential Aged Care

Yarrabah QLD 4871

Overall Star Rating: 3

Ozcare Malanda

Malanda QLD 4885

Overall Star Rating: 4

Ozcare Port Douglas

Port Douglas QLD 4877

Overall Star Rating: 4

Pyramid Residential Care Centre

Gordonvale QLD 4865

Overall Star Rating: 3

Regis Redlynch

Redlynch QLD 4870

Overall Star Rating: 3

Regis Whitfield

Whitfield QLD 4870

Overall Star Rating: 3

Warrina Innisfail

Innisfail QLD 4860

Overall Star Rating: 2

Weipa Hospital Multipurpose Health Service

Weipa QLD 4874

Overall Star Rating: no rating available

Originally published as New Health Department rating system shows aged care homes working, and spectacularly failing