A Change.org Petition that asks the Government to Prioritise another of the Royal Commission’s Aged Care Recommendations

Welcome to 2023, a year that will hopefully see more positive changes for our aged care sector! This year we’re expecting a resolution to the Fair Work case that should see a further increase to the aged care industry award, after an interim increase of 15% was announced in November 2022. We’re also expecting the Federal Government to implement more of the Royal Commission’s recommendations, including the recommendation that every aged care facility have a registered nurse onsite 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Which brings me to the topic of this month’s newsletter – a Change.org petition that asks the Government to prioritise another of the Royal Commission’s recommendations.?

Change.org Petition

The petition, which will be sent to the Government upon gaining 15,000 signatures and has over 13,895 signatures at time of writing, requests the Senate to do the following:?

• Require minimum minutes of clinical care delivery for a nursing home resident to receive by enrolled nurses and allied health professionals set at levels as per evidence presented at the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
• Publicly report staffing minutes of ENs and AHPs compared against state and national averages.
• Have these levels of ENs and AHPs count separately towards staff care minutes in Star Ratings

Benefits of Allied Health in Aged Care

Older Australians suffer from much higher rates of chronic disease and injuries as a result of falls. A team of allied health professionals can assist with prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation to ensure that the older members of our community can enjoy a higher quality of life.

To name just a few examples of how allied health professionals can benefit those living in aged care facilities:?

• Physiotherapists can assist in recovery from injuries and with mobility in general, allowing aged care residents to be less reliant on workers to help them move around.
• Psychologists and social workers can assist with mental health requirements associated with the transition from home living to residential care.
• Dieticians can provide support for managing conditions such as diabetes.?
• Art therapists and music therapists can help in the treatment of dementia.

Despite this, research submitted to the Royal Commission found that the number of allied health professionals employed in residential aged care decreased over time, and a survey conducted by StewartBrown found that aged care residents received an average of only 6.36 care minutes a day from allied health professionals.

Submissions to the Royal Commission argued that it was necessary for aged care residents to receive 22 care minutes from allied health professionals.

Enrolled Nurses

Research conducted by UTS Ageing Research Collaborative found that the number of care minutes provided by enrolled nurses had also declined over the last three years, decreasing by 28 per cent to around 13 care minutes per resident per day. There are also concerns that aged care residences will replace enrolled nurses with less qualified workers to cut costs.?

Such a decision would, of course, put even more stress on a workforce that is already suffering from stress, shortages, and insufficient pay.?

Funding

As with everything, when we advocate for better, we also need to consider where the money is going to come from.

Allied health is provided for under the new AN-ACC funding model, but it is up to the providers to determine what they consider necessary for each resident. Unfortunately, because there are no mandated requirements for the provision of allied health, nor any incentives for providers to ensure that it is utilised, it seems that some providers are viewing allied health as an area in which they can cut costs.?

The changes requested in the petition should serve to address this issue. By requiring a minimum number of minutes for residents to receive care from enrolled nurses and allied health professionals, providers will no longer be able to view these as areas where they can cut costs. It won’t solve the problem of underfunding, nor the fact that many providers are operating at a loss, but those are problems that require a much broader solution that doesn’t involve compromising on care.

If you would like to sign the petition, you can do so here.

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