The Quality Indicator (QI) data for the September 2023 quarter has included six new Indicators for the first time, and, overall, reflected an improvement in most reported issues.
The six new QIs, which came into effect from 1 April 2023, are:
- Activities of daily living
- Incontinence care
- Hospitalisations
- Workforce
- Consumer experience
- Quality of life
The new QIs will be included in trend analysis once there are six quarters of data available, however they still provided interesting insights:
- 6.9% of staff in remote aged care homes stopped working for the provider during the September quarter, compared with only 5.7% in metropolitan and regional homes
- 72.5% of consumers reported a 'good' or 'excellent' quality of life
- 81.8% of consumers reported a 'good' or 'excellent' consumer experience
Trend is down
In the nine quarters of reporting QIs, there has been a decline in the number of residents experiencing medication management issues, including for both polypharmacy and antipsychotics.
The number of cases of physical restraint has also declined, as have falls resulting in a major injury, and significant and consecutive unplanned weight loss.
However, over the nine quarters there has been no significant change in the number of falls or the number of residents with one or more pressure injuries.
Data was gathered from 2,614 residential aged care homes, or 97% of homes receiving Government subsidies, up from 91% in the previous quarter.
QIs are to be extended to home care, though no timing has been released yet, and new QIs around ENs are also under consideration. A pilot is expected to begin in March.