Life Saving Education Could Not Be More Important In The Current Environment

Danielle Robertson (https://www.drcaresolutions.com/blog) reported on a current challenge in the aged care sector.

Within a year, Wesley Mission has exited residential aged care after 95 years of providing residential aged care services. This is a sad indictment of the times.

Wesley Mission has always been a small operator, at its peak operating four residential aged care facilities in the Sydney region. The first closure occurred in June 2022 and the aim is to close the remaining three by May 2023. In total, 283 residential aged care beds will be lost.

This is just one example of smaller not-for-profit operators leaving the residential aged care sector. There are plenty of others who have closed or are planning to close.

Research released in January 2023 by the accounting firm, Stewart Brown, found that of the 1,138 residential aged care homes (92,312 beds) surveyed annually, 63% operated at a loss. The figure grew from 60% operating at a loss as at December 2021.

The firm expects 30 to 50 closures in the next 18 months. With the average home providing 70 beds, this will see the loss of 2,100 to 3,500 beds.

Why are they closing? Put simply, their financial position is unsustainable.

Why are they financially unsustainable? The 2019 Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety reforms adopted by the Commonwealth Government are proving to be too costly for smaller and regional operators to implement. Compliance issues, workforce issues and the pressures constantly on governance to run these homes are just a few of the issues.

No aged care workforce

The major issue is finding the aged care nurses and workers needed to provide the level of quality, safe care expected in residential aged care homes.

• As of 1 July 2023, residential aged care homes must have a registered nurse onsite 24/7.
• From 1 October 2023, residential aged care homes must provide 200 care minutes per day per resident, of which 40 minutes must be provided by nurses.

These are admirable reforms but when you come to understand that we currently do not have the nursing and carer workforce to provide these hours of care, the timetable for their implementation is unrealistic.

Australian College of Nursing Chief Executive, Kylie Ward, sees the 1 July deadline as impossible. She warns that “we can’t staff the Australian nursing workforce today, tonight or tomorrow” and cites that “Australia is currently in need of 12,000 registered nurses”.[4]

Information source – Danielle Robertson https://www.drcaresolutions.com/blog

As further residential aged care homes struggle, education on safe swallowing – something residents are involved in at least 5 times a day – becomes even more vital. Retaining the staff they have, means those staff need to feel supported. They need to feel that their employer understands the potential stress involved in managing a resident with Dysphagia … and they need the skills and strategies to best support these residents.

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