Bupa named and shamed on aged care

The nation’s best and worst aged care homes have been revealed under a new star rating system.

Bupa Villages and Aged Care managing director Andrew Kinkade.

Australia’s best and worst nursing homes have now been identified, with aged-care provider Bupa the poorest performer under the government’s new star rating system, but the highly anticipated rollout was marred by hundreds of homes not yet being allocated a rating.

Of the 22 nursing homes to receive a one-star rating out of five, Bupa owned four, in Clemton Park and Waratah in NSW, Bairnsdale in Victoria’s east and Woodville in South Australia.

A further eight of Bupa’s 59 facilities were rated two stars, below the standard considered acceptable by the federal government.

Eighteen aged-care facilities across the nation received the top rating of five stars, including Carinya Nursing Home in Melbourne’s southeast and Regents Garden Four Seasons in Booragoon, WA.

But on the new system’s first day, 247 services, almost 10 per cent of the 2670 nationwide, had yet to be given a star rating, with the government saying the score was either still under review, correct data had not been provided, the facility was a new service or it had recently changed hands.

Aged Care Minister Anika Wells said the new ratings, found on the MyAgedCare website, offered existing residents and families looking for a place for their older loved ones valuable information about the quality of individual homes.

“Star ratings make choosing a residential aged-care home simple and transparent. You can drill down to what’s important to you, be that the food or specific quality indicators,” Ms Wells said. “(They) will enhance accountability, transparency and capability within the residential aged-care sector.”

Ms Wells said homes rated as one and two stars are now in a position of having to explain to residents and potential residents the low standard, and what they plan to do about it.

“Sunshine is the best disinfectant,” she said.

Bupa Villages and Aged Care managing director Andrew Kinkade said he recognised his organisation had work to do.

“The current assessment criteria reflects historic non-compliances and therefore some of Bupa’s current ratings are not where we’d like them to be,” Mr Kinkade said.

“We’ve invested significantly in uplifting our quality measures and resident experience, and believe we’re well positioned to improve our ratings over coming months.”

But Mr Kinkade said financial pressures on all aged-care providers under the current federal funding arrangements were leading to questions about the sector’s sustainability.

A recent study revealed almost 70 per cent of homes were operating at a loss.

The introduction of a star rating system was a key recommendation of the aged-care royal commission that reported in March last year, and part of Labor’s election pitch to fix the crisis in aged care. It was legislated in the first bill to pass through parliament in August.

Overall, about 1 per cent of homes received a one-star rating, and a similar percentage rated five stars. Nine per cent received two stars and the rest either three or four stars.

The star ratings were calculated based on a combination of information including resident surveys, whether there have been compliance issues, and quality indicators such as the number of falls or unplanned weight loss.

 

Council on the Ageing chief executive Patricia Sparrow said star ratings were “a big step forward for high-quality aged care in Australia”.

“Providers with lower ratings still have a lot of work to do to improve on quality measures and transparency is a big part of the solution,” Ms Sparrow said.

Tom Symondson, chief executive of peak provider advocacy group Aged and Community Care Providers Association, said it was important to remember 91 per cent of homes were operating at three stars or better, which was “a solid standard of care”.

Mr Symondson urged consumers to look behind the numbers when assessing individual homes, and to contact them to understand their situation.

“We’ve seen homes awarded two stars when they have a five-star resident satisfaction score, but a one-star rating for staff levels. So you really need to look at what sits behind the overall rating,” he said.