Published 7 August 2024, revised 22 August 2024
AHPA welcomes the Inspector-General of Aged Care 2024 Progress Report on Implementation of the Recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
We are especially pleased that the Report calls for the Commonwealth Government to implement the needs-based and demand driven approach that the Royal Commission envisaged, instead of the present ‘rationed aged care’ approach.
The Report emphasises what our sector has consistently been highlighting to government regarding the decline in allied health service provision in aged care: this decline has been an inadvertent side effect of the shift to the Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) model and the introduction of mandatory care minutes that apply only for nursing and personal care.
The Inspector-General has therefore called for the Department of Health and Aged Care to initiate a review of the impact of the AN-ACC and the care minutes on the provision of allied health in residential care settings, and to consider whether other policies could offer an effective means of realising the Royal Commission’s intent.
An important consideration in this review should be whether the current approach enhances the focus on reablement (helping older people to maintain their function and quality of life) recommended by the Royal Commission. The Commissioners saw allied health as fundamental to achieving reablement, which is why they recommended that aged care consumers should be provided with allied health services based on individual needs.
The Report also calls out the lack of government implementation of the Royal Commission’s recommendation for a seamless aged care system regardless of whether the care is residential or home-based.
Additionally, the Inspector-General identifies disconnections between the aged care, health, and disability sectors as other contributors to older people not receiving the care that they need.
Particularly relevant for allied health, the Report notes that people in residential care settings do not have access to health care equal to that for those in the community. Although a recent joint statement purported to clarify the different roles and responsibilities of the Commonwealth, states, territories and aged providers, the Inspector-General considers, as AHPA has previously commented, that this falls short of the Royal Commission’s recommendation, and is unlikely to deliver any tangible improvements.
Other Report findings
Additional report findings include:
- The aged care system should be augmented by a rights-based framework.
- The Government should undertake a systemic review of the reasons for workforce shortages.
- Systemic workforce issues in both the aged care and healthcare sectors in rural and remote areas contribute to the reduced delivery of allied health care to aged care recipients, and strategies and tangible actions are required.
The central theme for allied health is the Report’s proposal that aged care should be underpinned by a universal entitlement to all forms of care and support in line with an assessed need, and have built-in capacity to meet those needs in a timely manner.
To achieve this, consistent allied health needs assessment is necessary, and multidisciplinary allied health care must be embedded as part of both home and residential aged care. These two goals are current policy and advocacy priorities for AHPA and our Aged Care Working Group members.