Registered Nurses eligible for the Federal Government’s Aged Care Registered Nurses’ Payment, which is intended as an incentive for RNs working in aged care, have had to wait up to six months for their payment to come through.
BASScare CEO, Craig Bardrick, told The SOURCE the grants were worth approximately $75,000 to their RNs and the delay caused both management and their RNs added stress.
BASScare is a Victorian Not For Profit community services provider, and operates Faversham residential aged care home in Canterbury, 10km east of the Melbourne CBD.
“The biggest impact was managing the expectations of staff who heard the announcement and weren’t seeing the cash flow,” Craig said.
“Some employees thought we weren’t passing it on,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Aged Care told The SOURCE some applicants waited up to six months to receive payment from the date of initial application. The delay was caused by incomplete applications, as well as the Department receiving more applications than expected.
The next round of the Aged Care Registered Nurses’ Payment will open in November 2023 and will include process improvements, including clearer provider guidance on how to fill out application documents, the Department told The SOURCE.
In the first round, the Department received 1,266 complete applications. More than $131 million in payments were made.
The SOURCE: The Department of Health and Aged Care needs to lift its performance. The payments were intended as a tool to attract and retain RNs. Instead, they caused stress and division while staff waited months for payment.
