The Department of Health and Aged Care has received 53 applications for exemptions to the 24/7 RN requirement, which came into effect on 1 July, despite 125 aged care homes being eligible.
No exemptions had been granted at the time of writing, but the Department told The SOURCE they are “close” to finalising decisions on “a number” of exemption applications.
The Department is assessing homes that have applied to ensure they have taken “reasonable steps” to continue delivering safe, quality care, before exemptions can be granted.
About 125 homes were eligible for the exemption, which only applies to homes with 30 beds or fewer, and are located in small rural towns, remote communities, or very remote communities.
The Department said the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) won’t take compliance action on the basis of non-compliance with the 24/7 RN responsibility while applications are under consideration.
24/7 RN SUPPLEMENT
Aged care homes with 60 or fewer beds that provide a minimum of 20 hours of RN coverage a day are eligible for the 24/7 RN supplement to help them meet the costs of employing additional RNs.
The maximum supplement is nearly $80,000.
NO EXEMPTIONS GRANTED YET
Chris Mamarelis, Chief Executive Officer of Not For Profit aged care provider Whiddon, which has 19 aged care homes in NSW and South East Queensland, said they have applied for exemptions for two of their homes: Burke (approximately 800km northwest of Dubbo) and Wee Waa (565km northwest of Sydney).
Applications were submitted in May. While the Department has not officially granted the exemptions, they have been in touch regularly to understand the alternative arrangements Whiddon has in place in the homes to ensure a high standard of care.
Chris said eligible providers may not have applied for exemptions because the substantial RN supplement may have helped them attract RNs with the additional funding. Most eligible homes would also be very small, he said, and may just be scrambling to keep up with the flood of reforms coming in at the moment.
Chris said finding RNs in Burke and Wee Waa is a “struggle” but hopes the flow of foreign workers into aged care may help to fill some of the gaps in the future.
24/7 RNs were a recommendation of the Royal Commission, which suggested they be mandated from 1 July 2024. The Labor Government brought forward the requirement to 1 July 2023.
The SOURCE: With no exemptions yet to be approved, the Department is clearly not taking a hard line with the 1 July implementation of 24/7 RNs. Previously Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells has said that homes won’t close due to non-compliance as the requirement is rolled out.