The Albanese Government is delivering on its commitment to put nurses back into nursing homes.
Registered nurses are now onsite in aged care homes 98 per cent of the time as a result of the Albanese Government’s 24/7 nursing commitment.
This Government promised Australians we would restore dignity to aged care residents, and our first month with 24/7 nursing has revealed a major increase in care with registered nurses in residential homes for 23.5 hours a day on average.
After just 15 months in office, our reforms have led to continuous improvement, with Quality Indicators and Star Ratings also showing positive increases.
24/7 registered nursing was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety – it was ignored by Peter Dutton and the Coalition.
24/7 nursing improves the safety and quality of care for residents and prevents unnecessary trips to hospital emergency departments.
95 per cent of facilities have now reported their first month of data regarding 24/7 nursing.
The results are:
Additionally, the National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program (QI Program) report for January to March 2023 has demonstrated improved quality of aged care for older people in Australia.
Star Ratings also now show that more residential aged care homes are at four and five stars and fewer are at one and two stars compared to when Star Ratings were first introduced in December 2022.
A new 24/7 registered nursing dashboard, which was released today on the Department of Health and Aged Care website, provides Australians with data on the level of 24/7 registered nursing being delivered across the residential aged care sector.
This continuous improvement in data reflects the collective impact of aged care reforms delivered by the Albanese Government and strong support from the aged care sector who are committed to providing the best possible care to residents.
As at 10 August 2023.
