It would cost an additional $3.2 billion to improve quality and operate aged care homes in Australia with a small-size home model, according to a report conducted for the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
The research, performed by the University of Queensland, says a spend of $621 million is required to bring homes up to the best quality level measurable in Australia’s current system.
The Royal Commissioners, the Honourable Tony Pagone QC and Ms Lynelle Briggs AO, say this research indicates more funding is needed.
“Australians expect that all are entitled to the best quality level of care in aged care homes. Additional funding will be needed to enable providers to meet those expectations consistently,” they said.
The research divided homes into three quality groups, with 11% in the best group, 78% in the middle and 11% in the worst.
To be in the best group, homes had to meet all accreditation standards, have lower use of high-risk medicines, have lower issues and complaints and higher customer experience rating.
Small-sized homes were most likely to be in the best quality group. In the best quality group 41% of homes had 1-15 beds, 17% of homes had 31-60 beds and 5% of homes had 61-120 beds.
Researchers also noted 24% of all Government-owned homes were in the best quality group, compared to 13% of Not For Profit homes and just 4% of For Profit homes.
The paper’s authors suggest quality improvements could have wide benefits than cost-minimisation measures.
“Meeting all accreditation standards is really just the minimum of what most Australians would expect of residential aged care facilities,” researcher Associate Professor Tracey Comans told AAP.
“If we really want to improve quality for residents, we need to put more resources into measuring quality routinely and rewarding high quality with additional funding.”
We’re providing an in-depth look at this paper in The Daily RESOURCE tomorrow.
Watch this space.
