Providers face acute threats to financial viability: report
A new report by the UTS Ageing Research Collaborative (UARC) has revealed that many aged care service providers face increasing and acute threats to their financial viability.
More than 60% of residential aged care homes are operating at a loss, and the financial performance of home care services declined by 26% compared to the previous year, according to Australia’s Aged Care Sector Report.
It is the first in a series of biannual surveys examining the viability of aged care providers, the availability of skilled workers and the sustainability of subsidised aged care services.
“Australia’s aged care sector faces many complex issues concerning the quality of care provided to senior Australians and the sustainability of delivering that care,” said Professor Mike Woods, Chair of the report’s Editorial Board.
“The aim of this report is to provide a strong evidence base to underpin public debates and to guide decisions on future policy and operational reforms,” he said.
“Across the sector, the financial performance of aged care service providers has worsened compared to last year, raising serious concerns about the financial viability of services that senior Australians depend on,” said lead author Dr Nicole Sutton.
In relation to staffing levels, the report finds that only 5% of surveyed residential homes have a direct care workforce that would exceed the sector average minimum staffing standards legislated by the government in response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Direct care staffing time in residential homes increased by only 1.9% compared to last year.
Across the sector, the financial performance of aged care service providers has worsened compared to last year, raising serious concerns about the financial viability of services that senior Australians depend on.
“Despite community and political pressure to fix the aged care workforce, aged care providers are struggling to improve staffing levels,” Dr Sutton said.
“Staffing shortages have been a perennial challenge but have worsened in the last year due to COVID-19 disruptions and the rapid expansion of home care services.”
The report also shows that staffing time has continued to fall in home care. On average, across all package levels, home care clients receive about 32.6 minutes of care time a day, which is 32.1% lower than five years ago.
Workforce problems, note the authors, are likely to worsen in the coming year with the release of more home care packages and the introduction of minimum staffing standards in residential homes.
The report’s analysis is based on de-identified data from the latest survey conducted by StewartBrown, a chartered accountancy firm that collects financial and workforce data from aged care providers and provides them with benchmarking and advisory services. The survey includes around 1192 aged care homes and 55,821 home care packages.
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