Aged Care Star Ratings Explained
The Australian Government Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has launched a star rating system to help residents and their families compare the care offered by aged care providers.
Finding safe and affordable residential aged care that suits your loved one is important, and any resources that help you make a decision can be valuable. We welcome the opportunity to make it simpler for families to evaluate aged care providers.
If you have any questions about Carinity’s ratings or results, we’d love to talk. Our aged care team, including our Residential Managers, are always able to answer any queries you might have.
While star ratings are a valuable tool, everyone’s needs and preferences are different and what is perfect for one person may not feel right for another. A personal tour is always important to ensure a community is the right fit for you.
Understanding Star Ratings: What the Ratings Mean
Most aged care communities in Australia have received an overall star rating of between three and four stars.
It’s important to understand that a three-star home provides fully-compliant care that meets the Aged Care Quality Standards.
A four star rating is considered to be above average.
How the Star Ratings Are Determined
The star ratings review four key areas and allocates a weight to their importance.
Quality Indicators (15%): How an aged care service performs against five different quality indicators. These five indicators are pressure injuries, use of physical restraints, unplanned weight loss, falls and medication management.
Service Compliance (30%): How compliant the provider is against the eight clinical and quality standards. Compliance is reviewed in regards to care standards including quality, safety, financial matters, and management.
Residents’ Experience (33%): Resident experience carries the most weight in determining the star ratings. This considers how residents’ feel about their safety, treatment from staff, the food and their independence or sense of belonging.
Staffing Minutes (22%): This reviews how many minutes of care each resident received from clinical staff, such as nursing staff and carers. Lifestyle Coordinators, Allied Health Providers and Support Staff aren’t included in these figures, though they have regular interaction with residents.
Using the Star Ratings to Help Choose an Aged Care Community
Star Ratings are an important tool to quickly compare aged care communities. However, while they’re a great resource, they can never tell you whether a community is the right fit for you. Perhaps you or your loved one would prefer a community with visiting pets. Maybe having physio-led exercise classes are important to your goals of maintaining strength. Even the types of activities come down to personal preferences. These can’t be discovered through ratings alone. We always recommend taking a tour to view and experience a facility personally so you can get a sense of the community and decide whether it’s right for you.
Contact us on 1300 109 109 for more information or feel free to discuss any questions you may have during a tour or visit to your Carinity community.
