New Aged Care Provider Star Rating System

A new star rating system, recommended by the Aged Care Royal Commission, puts underperforming aged care homes on notice while helping older Australians and their families choose which home to enter.

All aged care homes receive an overall star rating and a rating against four sub-categories:

1. Residents’ Experience – aged care residents are interviewed about their overall experience of their aged care home. Residents’ Experience makes up 33 per cent of the overall star rating.

2. Compliance – regulatory decisions by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission including compliance with the Aged Care Quality Standards. Compliance makes up 30 per cent of the overall star rating.

3. Staffing – the amount of care received from a registered nurse, enrolled nurse or personal care worker to each resident in an aged care home compared to the average care targets set by the Australian Government. Staffing makes up 22 per cent of the overall star rating.

4. Quality Measures – information about five crucial areas of care: falls and major injury, unexplained weight loss, pressure injuries, medication management and the use of physical restraint. Quality Measures makes up 15 per cent of the overall star rating.

Aged care homes receive star ratings between 1 and 5 stars.

• 1 star – ‘significant improvement needed’.
• 2 stars – ‘improvement needed’.
• 3 stars – an ‘acceptable’ quality of care.
• 4 stars – a ‘good’ quality of care.
• 5 stars – an ‘excellent’ quality of care.

The federal government has released ratings for every aged care home in Australia – rating them out of five stars.

Here in Yass, Horton House and Warmington Lodge has been given a three-star rating, as has Thomas Eccles Gardens.

• Topics:

• Aged Care
• Health & Wellbeing
• Seniors