Australia has reached a “milestone” with aged care homes nationwide having registered nurses on site almost the entire time.
Laws were passed last year requiring a qualified and registered nurse in every residential home 24/7.
The change was one of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Aged Care Minister Anika Wells on Thursday released the first month of data, which showed 86 per cent of facilities had a nurse on site at all times.
“Today is a milestone day for Australia’s aged care sector,” she said.
“Here we stand with aged care in a better position in this country than it has ever been.”
The figures showed that, on average, there is a registered nurse in aged care homes 98 per cent of the time.
Ms Wells said she was “enormously heartened” by the results, and expected to hit 100 per cent “as soon as possible”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said having nurses in facilities resulted in older people getting the care and dignity they deserved.
“Because we changed the rules to make it happen,” he said.
The opposition last year described the bill as “rushed” but did not stand in the way of the reforms.
Government modelling released last year showed an extra 869 registered nurses were needed to meet the new requirement of around-the-clock care.
Residents in aged care facilities were promised an average of 200 care minutes, including 40 nursing minutes, each day by October.
Council on the Ageing Australia chief executive Patricia Sparrow praised the government for setting ambitious targets and working with the sector to meet them.
“Having registered nurses in our aged care homes isn’t a ‘nice to have’, it’s crucial if we’re going to provide our older Australians with the quality care they need and deserve,” she said.
Ms Wells said the department was reaching out to facilities that were unable to meet the requirements, to check what support they needed.
– AAP
