Minister for Aged Care Ken Wyatt is reviewing whether the registration requirements for home care providers need to be tightened after three providers were hit with sanctions in the last year.
The Adelaide-based Home Nursing Solutions and Assist Home Care and Sydney-based Comfort Home Care have all had their funding for new clients withdrawn for six months – a fact highlighted by the ABC’s 7.30 Report.
Another 14 home care providers have also been issued with non-compliance notices since July 2018.
The number of home care providers has jumped dramatically to around 900 since the introduction of Consumer Directed Care (CDC) in February 2017 opened up the market, which has resulted in greater competition between operators.
Council on the Ageing (COTA) CEO Ian Yates told the program that some home care providers were pushing clients to sign up.
“We have seen some more aggressiveness in home care provision and we have seen some door-to-door sales. We have referred those to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission,” he said.
The Government already made it mandatory for home care providers to publish their fees online from 30 November 2018, but Minister Wyatt says there is still room for improvement.
“If there is a problem with the way we do it then we’ll make changes,” he said.
Watch this space then.
COTA CEO Ian Yates and Enrich Living Group CEO Norbert Walther will discuss the future of home care at the LEADERS SUMMIT (21-22 March, Sydney).
