Pharmacy Daily | Mandatory care minutes in aged care

FROM today, the Federal Government announced that aged care homes must deliver a sector average of 200 care minutes per resident per day, including 40 minutes of registered nurse care.

This comes following the introduction of the 24/7 registered nursing responsibility on 01 Jul, with a registered nurse now on-site and on duty 98.08% of the time across the aged care sector.

Minimum care time standards were recommended by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which identified that staffing levels are vital to high-quality aged care.

Currently, the average number of care minutes provided per resident per day has increased from 183.53 to 193.99 - this includes the provision of 36.78 minutes of registered nurse care, according to the gov't's Quarterly Financial Report for the Jun 2023 quarter.

Care minutes delivered by registered nurses, enrolled nurses, personal care workers and assistants will be reflected in aged care homes' Star Ratings from Apr 2024, the gov't stated.

From 01 Oct 2024, mandatory care minutes will increase to an average of 215 minutes of care, including 44 minutes from a registered nurse.

Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells said, "we are delivering an additional 1.8 million care minutes every day across the sector, and an additional 5,800 direct care staff.

"The introduction of mandatory care minutes targets today means that every older person in an aged care home will receive the dedicated care time they need; whether that be for essential medical treatment or help with daily activities.

"All aged care residents can have their clinical & personal needs met.

"Each home's care minutes targets are based on the needs of their residents, which means homes with higher-need residents will need to deliver more care minutes," Wells added.

"We are already seeing a concerted effort from the sector to increase care minutes, and there has been great progress to lift care minutes ahead of the mandatory targets commencing.

"My department and I will continue to work closely with aged care homes, particularly those affected by workforce shortages, to support them to meet their care minutes targets." JG