REGISTERED nurses are now onsite in aged care homes 98 per cent of the time on average, with 86 per cent of facilities having a nurse on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The need for 24-hour registered nursing was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety to improve aged care services and prevent unnecessary trips to hospitals.
On average, there is now a registered nurse onsite in aged care homes for 23.5 hours a day, according to the facilities that have reported their first month of data starting July 1.
Federal Member for McEwen Rob Mitchell said he was proud to be part of a government that had put nurses back into nursing homes.
“We introduced the 24/7 nursing requirement because older Australians deserve around the clock clinical care and this data reveals they are getting that now,” he said.
“We now see Australia’s older generations – our mums and dads, grandparents and loved ones who live in aged care homes – receiving the high-quality care and safety they deserve.”
A new 24-hour registered nursing dashboard, which was last week released on the Department of Health and Aged Care website, provides Australians with data on the level of 24-hour registered nursing being delivered across the residential aged care sector.
The changes reflect an improvement in aged care ratings across the Mitchell Shire, Macedon Ranges and City of Whittlesea, with overall average ratings up to 3.8 in Mitchell, 3.75 in Macedon and 3.36 in Whittlesea as of August 7.
The figures are compared to previous overall ratings of 3.2, 3.25, and 3.2 respectively from March 27.
Average ‘staff’ ratings have increased from 2.8 to 3.2 in the Mitchell Shire, however the previous overall staff rating of two remains the same for both Macedon and Whittlesea.
