Aged care misses out on medical care

Older Australians living in residential aged care have limited access to medical care, with concern mounting as the number of visits by doctors who conduct residential aged care visits continues to decline, according to the Australian Medical Association (AMA) 2012 Aged Care Survey.

The survey, released yesterday, shows the older medical workforce is providing the majority of medical services to older Australians in residential aged care, and that more than 15% of them intend to reduce their visits over the next two years.

Only about a quarter of those who attend residential aged care facilities are female, and nine in 10 practitioners who attend are aged over 40 years.

The AMA released a comprehensive Report of the Survey, which was conducted nationally in July 2012, with preliminary findings released in August 2012.

AMA president, Dr Steve Hambleton, says the Australian aged care sector is in urgent need of support and longterm vision.

The association is now calling on the major parties to “spell out” comprehensive aged care policies ahead of next year’s election.

“This year’s Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package provided no focus at all on the medical needs of older Australians once they enter residential aged care,” Dr Hambleton claims.

“For many years, the AMA has highlighted that access to medical care for older Australians has been a policy free zone for successive governments.

“The aged care sector must be able to provide a level and quality of medical, nursing and allied health services that meets the needs of the ageing population,” he says.

The AMA calls on Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, to convene a specific forum for clinical providers to consider and advise the federal government on the best options to incorporate medical and nursing care in the aged care sector.

“Medicare rebates for medical services provided in residential aged care facilities must be increased to reflect the complexity of care and the significant amount of additional, but clinically relevant, non face to face time with the patient that goes into overseeing their care.

“Medicare rebates for GP video consultations would mean residents of aged care facilities could receive timely quality health care without medical practitioners sacrificing time in their busy practices,” Dr Hambleton says.

Improving IT facilities – considered a priority by 81.6% of respondents – may also overcome the technological barriers to the entry of younger medical practitioners into the aged care sector.

Key elements of the survey:

• 9.3% of medical practitioners providing medical care to older Australians in residential aged care facilities are under the age of 40 years;
• the average number of visits by medical practitioners per month to residential aged care facilities is 6.3 visits – down from 8.36 visits per month in the 2008 AMA Survey;
• the average number of patients seen by medical practitioners per visit to residential aged care facilities is 5.8 – up from 4.77 patients in 2008 – indicating higher demand for medical care;
• the average time spent with each patient is 16.2 minutes – up from 13.12 minutes in 2008;
• 31.5% of survey respondents have decreased their visits to residential aged care facilities over the past five years – up from 21.64% in 2008; and
• 95.6% of survey respondents who identified the need to improve the availability of suitably trained and experienced nurses and other health professionals in residential aged care.

Download the AMA 2012 Aged Care Survey Report.