The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s sector performance report for January to March has revealed that the sector continues to struggle with three key Aged Care Quality Standards.
In total, there were 99 non-compliance breaches recorded during the quarter.
The three standards most commonly not met were Quality Standard 3 (personal care and clinical care), Standard 8 (organisational governance) and Standard 7 (human resources).
The four main requirements deemed not compliant in Quality Standard 3 were:
- Safe and effective personal and clinical care (42%),
- High impact or high prevalence risks managed effectively (31%),
- Infection risk management and appropriate prescribing (22%), and
- Recognition and response to deterioration (16%).
Nine sanctions, the most severe action, were enforced, with five issued to NSW providers and two to South Australian providers, stated the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission in the report.
However, the ACQSC did not revoke accreditation to any provider in the period; it reaccredited 275 residential services and accredited four new residential services.
There were 2,767 aged care complaints for the quarter, including 1,679 complaints related to residential care – an increase from 2,543 and 1,639 respectively on the previous quarter. Complaints per 100 residents remained at 0.89.
The Commission also reported there were 188,931 aged care residents (up 37 on three months prior), 211,284 Home Care Packages (up 34,179 on Oct-Dec 2021) and 825,506 people (down 123 on previous data) on the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP).
