Qld’s best and worst aged care homes star ratings
It’s every grandparent’s nightmare — being dumped in an aged care home where staff are rude, rooms are filthy and the food is lousy. See 450 of Queensland’s best and worst nursing homes. FULL LIST
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Residents left sitting for hours in dirty incontinence pads, lousy food, rude staff, no service and filthy living conditions.
These were some of the issues that brought 45 of Queensland’s nursing homes under the aged care watchdog’s microscope in the past six months.
The Department of Health and Aged Care ranked the country’s best and worst old people’s homes giving two in Queensland the lowest rating of one star in January.
The one-to-five star rating system first started operating in November with many star ratings adjusted for Queensland facilities in January.
Across the country, 26 nursing homes, or one per cent of the national total, received just one star when assessed on staffing levels, food quality and the use of physical restraints.
The worst in the country was Victoria’s May Noonan Centre which received one star ratings for quality and compliance.
In Queensland, Warrina Innisfail, north of Townsville, was rated the worst of the state’s 453 homes with authorities telling management significant improvement was needed.
Assessors found standards at the facility had plunged from two stars in November when the quality measure ratings were first introduced.
St Nicholas Aged Care in Highgate Hill, Brisbane, was the state’s second worst, also scoring the lowest one-star rating. The facility managers were contacted for comment.
A site audit was conducted at St Nicholas’s in August with a report finding the Greek Ladies Philoptochos Society of St George breached all eight aged care standards.
The report said nine residents were restrained for long periods of time in upright chairs with tray tables with staff reporting not having time to attend to residents’ personal hygiene.
Another resident told of being “disturbed, distressed, and sleep-deprived” as a roommate was continuously calling out.
“Staff were observed not acknowledging or addressing the consumers who were calling out for assistance for several hours, and thereby were impacting on other consumers,” the report said.
SCROLL THROUGH ALL QLD AGED CARE FACILITIES HERE:
Also in the state’s worst top 10 were Logan facilities Blue Care Carbrook Wirunya Aged Care Facility and Bethania Gardens, owned by Pu-Fam Pty Ltd, both scraping in with two-star ratings.
Newmarket’s Woodlands Aged Care and NDIS Services in Brisbane also scored two stars as did Queensland Rehabilitation Services Esida home at Mount Gravatt East.
Family-owned and operated TriCare took out the trifecta with its homes at Annerley, Mt Gravatt and Pimpama facilities completing the worst top 10.
However, an assessment in December 2022, found TriCare Annerley was compliant in all eight aged care assessment standards and was granted accreditation until 2025.
More than 52 per cent, or 240, of Queensland nursing homes received three stars with facilities in Coolangatta, Noosa, Gympie, Maryborough, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Mackay, Bowen and Cairns all receiving average ratings.
Five Queensland nursing homes received the highest five-star rating, hitting top scores for compliance, quality measures, residents’ experiences and staffing.
Leslie Place Aged Persons Hostel at Killarney and Brighton Health Campus (Gannet House) scored the most stars followed by Anglicare’s St Martin’s Nursing Home at Taigum, Bowder Care Centre at Nambour and Milton House at Miles, west of Chinchilla.
National Seniors Australia chief advocate Ian Henschke said the new star ratings would provide a meaningful reference point.
“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,” he said.
“A three-star hotel rating implies a broad range of amenities exceeding above-average accommodation needs and good quality service, design and physical attributes.
“But in aged care, three stars means it’s acceptable and that could be an aged care home with an improvement notice on it.”
One of the major concerns in aged care is the poor standard of food, with half of all residents malnourished.
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FOOD QUALITY
In December, homes were also assessed for the first time for quality and the way food was served with each facility surveyed getting a food score.
Bolton Clarke’s Westhaven in Harristown, Toowoomba, scored the lowest two-star rating with only 7 per cent claiming they always liked the food and 21 per cent saying they never liked what was served.
The company’s other home, Tantula Rise on the Sunshine Coast, had the second lowest rating in Queensland with a score of 2.24.
A spokeswoman for Bolton Clarke said both the Westhaven and Tantula Rise homes received overall four-star ratings with top marks for or five stars for compliance, which includes assessment of the variety, quality and quantity of meals.
“We proactively seek feedback from our residents and are always looking for ways to support individual resident preferences – including food preferences – through check-ins such as our monthly food focus meetings,” she said.
Nearly a third of residents said they never liked the food and a further 29 per cent said they only liked the food some of the time.
Homes owned and managed by Regis at Caboolture and Redlynch and those run by Palm Lake at Toowoomba and Beachmere also failed to tantalise tastebuds with each receiving two star ratings for food.
■ Ratings have been updated since January 4 2023 but are subject to change.
STAR RATINGS GUIDE
1 star – significant improvement needed.
2 stars – improvement needed.
3 stars – an acceptable quality of care.
4 stars – a good quality of care.
5 stars – an excellent quality of care.
Ratings can change throughout the year, see how:
Compliance: Based on noncompliance decisions made by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission reported daily.
Residents’ Experience: At least 10 per cent of older Australians living in residential aged care homes are interviewed face-to-face about their overall experience at their residential aged care home by a third-party vendor once a year.
Staffing minutes: From quarterly reports.
Quality Measures: Based on data from five existing quality indicators (pressure injuries, physical restraint, unplanned weight loss, falls and major injury, and medication management) reported quarterly
*Data about food ratings in this story is taken from every aged care facility that completed an official report and submitted it to the government’s star ratings system. Some facilities did not have any data at time of publication.
Originally published as Qld’s best and worst aged care homes star ratings
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