The March quarter Sector Performance Report from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) highlights growing concerns with home care, including with assessments and planning and a rise in complaints about communication.
Only 64% of home services audited by the Commission complied with all eight Quality Standards in the March FY25 quarter, according to the Report.
The Standard with the lowest rate of compliance was Ongoing Assessment and Planning with Consumers, with only 73% complying.
The March quarter saw a sharp decline in regulatory activity, with just 59 quality audits and 22 decisions recorded – down from 391 audits and 157 decisions in the same quarter last year.
The decline was largely due to the ACommission reallocating some of its home care audit team to residential aged care, to ensure audits were completed on time. Staff were also diverted to prepare for the new registration system set to launch under the incoming Aged Care Act.
During the March quarter, the Commission focused its efforts on larger home care providers – many of which have stronger governance and systems – reflected in an improved compliance result for organisational governance.
"This does not represent the home services sector as a whole," the report notes.
Home care complaints rose to their highest level in at least 15 months, with 1,147 complaints received. The largest number of complaints were about a lack of consultation or communication (269).
Under the Serious Incident Response Scheme, there were 936 incidents of neglect in the March quarter, making up 60% of the total 1,566 incidents reported.
However, no sanctions were imposed on home care providers in the March quarter.
You can read the ACQSC's Sector Performance Report here.
