New national star ratings system for aged care homes reveals six Tasmanian facilities substandard

Six Tasmanian aged care homes have been deemed substandard under the federal government’s new star ratings system. SEARCH THE TABLE >>

Six Tasmanian aged care homes have been deemed substandard under the federal government’s new star ratings system for residential facilities, with just one given top marks.

The ratings were a crucial recommendation from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety and were released by Aged Care Minister Anika Wells on Monday.

Nationally, only one per cent of facilities were awarded five stars. Meanwhile, 36 per cent were given four stars, 54 per cent were given three stars, 8 per cent were given two stars, and one per cent were given one star.

Anika Wells, Minister for Aged Care. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Star ratings are based on the quality of care provided by aged care homes, which are measured on four criteria: residents’ experience, staffing, quality measures, and compliance. They are designed to provide greater transparency and scrutiny of the sector.

In Tasmania, six facilities were given two-star ratings: Coroneagh Park at Penguin; Barossa Park Lodge in Glenorchy; Emmerton Park Aged Care Facility at Smithton; May Shaw Aminya at Scottsdale; Meercroft Care in Devonport and; Barrington Lodge at New Town.

A two-star rating is classified as “improvement needed”.

The sole Tasmanian facility to be awarded five stars was the Midlands Multipurpose Health Centre at Oatlands.

Emmerton Park CEO Ian Adams said the not-for-profit organisation was “extremely disappointed, upset and frustrated” to receive just two stars, criticising the “rigid nature of [the] assessment process”.

“I note we received the maximum five-star rating for quality measures,” he said.

“So somehow while we provide a perfect level of care based on quality measures, we are marked down for not having the clinical coverage required to provide this level of care? This is illogical.”

Mr Adams said it was difficult for homes in regional areas to provide adequate staffing levels due to a lack of registered nurses.

Coroneagh Park at Penguin.

Jason Binder, the CEO and managing director of Respect Aged Care, which runs Coroneagh Park, said there were “issues” with the new ratings system that needed to be addressed.

“One of the issues is that if an aged care home has had a noncompliance in any aged care standard in the past, it automatically caps the star rating to a maximum of one or two stars,” he said.

“Unfortunately, this is the case with Coroneagh Park.”

He said other factors that contributed to the score were “also very misleading”.

OneCare acting CEO Colin Stewart said the organisation would “continue to strive to deliver improved care at Barossa Park” in the wake of its two-star rating and noted that three of its other facilities had been awarded four-star ratings.

Ms Wells said star ratings would make choosing a residential aged care home “simple and transparent”.

“Star ratings will enhance accountability, transparency and capability within the residential aged care sector,” she said.