Unannounced aged care audits are resulting in a huge increase in SA aged care facilities being sanctioned by the federal Department of Health.
Of the 37 sanctions handed down since data was recorded in 2000, 12 were in the 2018-19 financial year.
The federal Department of Health said the increase “primarily relate” to the start of unannounced visits, while aged care advocates say the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety also prompted a crackdown.
Federal data shows seven aged care homes have been sanctioned in the first eight months of 2019, more than in any year since 2000.
Four facilities are currently sanctioned, including the Country Health SA run Ira Parker Nursing Home in the Mid-North where a resident died following a fire in her bedroom.
The list also includes aged care giant Bupa's Campbelltown facility, Rosha’s Kiandra Residential Aged Care at Prospect and Brompton’s St Anna's Residential Care Facility, run by the Croatian, Ukrainian and Belarusian Aged Care Association of SA.
