36% of aged care homes are achieving both their total care minutes and RN care minutes targets, according to data for the March 2024 quarter, released by the Department of Health and Aged Care today (Tuesday).
One year after the 1 July 2023 introduction of the 24/7 RN requirement, 88% of aged care homes are now achieving 24/7 coverage, according to the June 2024 data.
Nearly 5% of aged care homes are within two hours of 24/7 RN coverage, and 2.5% of homes are more than two hours from achieving the mandatory target.
More than 4% of homes, 109 homes in total, did not report on 24/7 RN coverage, which does not include the 23 homes with an exemption in place, as of 1 July 2024.
In August last year, 39 homes had been granted exemptions, as The Weekly SOURCE reported.
"Fewer rural and remote aged care providers have sought an exemption from the 24/7 RN responsibility in its second year, as they have been able to meet or surpass the minimum RN coverage threshold," a statement from the Aged Care Minister Anika Wells said.
The data also shows that on average, an RN is on duty on site 24 hours a day 99% of the time.
For care minute targets, residential aged care homes are delivering on average 204.2 total care minutes per day per resident, which includes 40.2 minutes from an RN.
Click to read the 24/7 RN dashboard and the care minutes dashboard.
Browse and check availability of aged care homes on agedcare101
