StewartBrown Advisory releases new aged care data impacting rural Aussies

Key points:

• Approximately 75 percent of Australian aged care homes are expected to operate at a loss according to a recent StewartBrown Advisory report
• Data from 1,200 residential care facilities indicates that regional areas are most at risk of financial hardship, which may affect older Australians due to closures
• Workforce shortages and higher operating costs are factors that can increase care costs for older Australians in regional and remote areas

Up to 75 percent of aged care facilities are expected to lose money unless the Australian Government creates a funding reform, with inner regional and outer regional facilities most at risk as per the new StewartBrown Advisory report.

StewartBrown Advisory is the ‘largest financial benchmark in the aged care sector’ and provides data compiled from more than 1,200 residential care homes, 210 approved provider organisations and 68,200 home care packages.

A direct link between regional areas and higher care costs indicates that the government needs to ensure funding is allocated to better support older Australians in these areas.

The cost of agency direct staff per bed daily is $37.84 dollars in rural and remote areas, compared to $11.36 dollars per bed in major cities. 

In rural areas, factors that can increase costs compared to metropolitan areas include travel distances, higher operating costs and workforce shortages. 

The final Aged Care Taskforce report outlines that ‘the residential sector should have access to sufficient capital to develop and upgrade accommodation, including in rural and remote

areas and First Nations communities’ and a pricing review should be undertaken in rural and remote areas.

Although many aged care homes provide care to older Australians, the total monetary loss in aged care homes over the last five years has amounted to five billion dollars. 

However, it’s not just financial concerns being raised in aged care homes across the country as some facilities are not meeting Australian Government requirements. 

Chief Executive Officer of Whiddon, a regional care provider, Chris Mamarelis highlighted that regional and rural communities need better support from the government to ensure quality aged care.

“We’re calling on the government to be brave and take a step forward. It’s hard for us as providers to understand why there has been such a delay given the mandate and recommendations [it] endorsed,” he said.

“[…] Regional care needs greater support and the continuation of discriminating against postcodes through the Modified Monash Model must come to an end.”

The Modified Monash Model is used to identify if a location is regional, rural or remote, based on the number of people living in the area and it is used by the Australian Government to ‘distribute the health workforce better in rural and remote areas.’

The scale ranges from one to seven, with one being major cities and seven being very remote communities. 

Fourty-nine percent of medium rural residential aged care homes — identified as MMM4 — failed to have a registered nurse onsite as per the 24/7 requirements established by the Australian Government. 

This was introduced in response to the 2021 Royal Commission’s recommendations to improve patient safety and access to clinical care in their aged care facility. 

Facilities can apply for temporary exemptions but certain criteria must be met, including being in a MMM5, MMM6 or MMM7 area. 

Approximately 34 percent of older Australians live in remote and rural areas. 

However, Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler explained how $16 million dollars is supporting 11 healthcare incentives in rural and remote areas in Australia.

“Trialling new and innovative ways of providing health services is essential so that we can find new ways to bridge the service gap and ensure people in rural and remote areas get the care they need,” he said.                                                                                                                 

“These trials will lead to better healthcare and better health outcomes, while also providing important data on the most effective ways to provide healthcare to rural and remote communities.”

Australian Government data has indicated that over 42,000 internationally trained health professionals have registered to practice in Australia since July 2022 and this could help ease the Australian healthcare system.

To combat widespread health workforce shortages, the Australian Government has allocated $90 million dollars in the latest Federal Budget to make it ‘simpler and quicker for international health practitioners to work in Australia.’

In one study undertaken by researchers in a rural South Australian community, older Australian participants responded that they had insufficient access to services for ‘chronic disease management, specialist care, psychological distress and [that they had] the need for formal care services.’

Read more about the importance of having qualified health professionals in rural areas in this article: Thousands of doctors arriving in Australia could improve healthcare access for rural older Aussies.

Are you living in a regional or rural aged care facility? Have you been impacted by low rates of staff retention?

Let the team at Talking Aged Care know on social media. 

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