A look at aged care accreditation

The revelation comes as the federal government looks to cut red tape in aged care homes, including a reduction of the official aged care complaints system.

The figures, contained in a FOI request on complaints between 1997-98 to 2013-14, shows 28 aged care facilities that started operations that financial year passed accreditation while six failed, a failure rate of nearly 18%, reports the ABC's PM program.

There was a similar failure rate in 2012-13, when 22 new aged care facilities passed, while five failed the accreditation audit. In 2011/12 none of the 20 nursing homes that opened that year failed the quality audit.

A trial, the South Australia Innovation Hub, is currently underway in 10 residential aged care facilities in the state, one of which was criticised by the state coroner for contributing to the death of a woman who was left unsupervised while smoking.

Under the proposals, most aged care facilities would be accredited every five years instead of every three years.

If the pilot is adopted nationwide, most complaints will be handled by aged care facilities instead of the federal government's Aged Care Complaints Scheme.

“All complaints about a provider's services that would be typically handled through a full scheme resolution process will be referred to the provider via correspondence for resolution … except where a major or significant risk to care recipients has been identified,” one document states.

The documents outline a proposal of “earned autonomy” for aged care facilities considered to be high performers, including a plan to “develop a process to reduce the involvement of the Aged Care Complaints Scheme in the resolution of aged care complaints”.

The documents states complainants will still have the right to lodge an appeal with the Aged Care Commissioner and the Aged Care Complaints Scheme will continue to manage anonymous or confidential complaints.

One department document from October 2014 discussed the “risk of decreased regulation on quality of care”.

“In the event consumer concerns are identified, normal regulatory processes will apply,” the document states. “Where concerns are not adequately addressed and/or providers no longer meet the performance criteria, the department may withdraw autonomy from providers.”

The documents state that 85% of aged care homes fully meet the required standards as of August 2014, while 1% fail to make the standards.

There is no guarantee a poorly performing facility will have a five year accreditation period restored even if it improved its performance.

Aged care facilities will still face unannounced visits by the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency which conducts the checks of nursing homes which includes audits of safety, health and staff development.