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Increasing admissions
Over one third of aged care residents hospitalised each year .
In a new research paper the aged
care royal commission found that in
2018 / 19 31.1 per cent of residents had at least one public hospital admission , and 24.6 per cent had at least one overnight public hospital admission .
Patient admissions to public hospitals have gone up year on since 2014 / 15 , from 142,852 to 171,042 in 2018 / 19 .
Similarly , emergency department ( ED ) presentations for permanent aged care residents 65 and over rose over the same period . In 2014 / 15 there were 130,804 ED presentations and 166,135 in 2018 / 19 . In 2018 / 19 , 36.9 per cent of aged care residents had an ED presentation .
The data shows that in 2018 / 19 , the most common reasons for overnight inpatient hospitalisations were respiratory complaints ( 19.5 per cent ). This was followed by “ injuries ” ( 18.4 per cent ) and circulatory conditions ( 11.9 cent ).
The most common reasons for emergency department presentations were “ symptoms and signs ” ( 26.4 per cent ),
“ injuries ” ( 22.1 per cent ) and “ respiratory ” ( 12.0 per cent ).
In 2018 / 19 , 10.5 per cent of residents had a hospitalisation or emergency department presentation for a fall , an increase over the time studied .
In 2018 / 19 , 1.9 per cent of residents had a hospitalisation or emergency department presentation with weight loss or malnutrition and 3.4 per cent of residents had a hospitalisation with a pressure injury .
And 22.2 per cent of residents returning to , or entering , permanent residential aged care from an overnight hospital stay represented to the emergency department within 30 days , a 2 per cent increase over the period studied .
This paper is the first time aged care hospitalisation rates have been calculated at a national level and will give an insight into areas for improvement in the aged care space .
The data the commission found was calculated by linking residential aged care data to each state and territory ’ s hospital admissions and emergency department data . ■
Inequality persists
Royal Commission investigates links between quality of care and financial means .
The 19th research paper into the
Royal Commission into Aged Care
Quality and Safety investigated the link between financial means and quality in aged care .
The data shows that in homes with more commonwealth supported places incidents of assaults were more prevalent , physical restraints were more common and residents receive fewer care minutes . The research was prompted by submissions the commission received from older Aussies with lower financial means who felt that they had less choice and were not able to find comfortable aged care living compared to their more well-off counterparts .
Focus group participants told the commission they believed that the quality of residential aged care can vary with residents ’ financial means .
The commission looked at the quality indicator data from across the aged care system and grouped facilities based on the amount of ‘ supported ’ residents they had ( residents partially or fully supported by the government ) and if facilities receive revenue for extra and / or additional services , more common among facilities with low numbers of supported residents .
Over the large majority of indicators there appeared to be little difference statistically , the paper states . However , the perception of the public was supported in a few key areas of care and appears to show inequality in homes with greater numbers of supported residents .
Residents in facilities with less than 30 per cent of supported residents received more allied health and lifestyle care minutes on average than facilities with 50 per cent or more supported residents .
Facilities with less than 30 per cent of supported residents spent more on total staff , and more on care management , registered nurses and allied health and lifestyle , than facilities with more supported places .
More concerningly , the number of assaults were higher on average in homes with 50 per cent or more supported residents than those with 30 per cent or less .
Use of physical restraints was also higher on average in the facilities with 50 per cent or more supported residents than in those with less than 30 per cent , and the number of chronic opioid users followed a similar pattern . ■
6 agedcareinsite . com . au