Care minutes targets remain out of reach for two-thirds of facilities

Government data reveals that residential care providers are now delivering “historic levels of care” with the sector surpassing its total care minutes target for the October-December 2023 period.

The Registered Nurse (RN) minutes target of 40.16 minutes remains just out of reach, however, with just one-third of services that report care minutes achieving both total and RN care minutes targets. 

Key points

• Mandatory care minutes targets were introduced in October 2023 with a sector-wide average of 200 direct care minutes required per resident per day, including 40 minutes by an RN
• Exact facility targets vary as they are case-mix adjusted depending on resident classifications
• Data shows the average total care minutes delivered sits at 201.93, including 38.76 minutes from RNs
• Just over 50% of providers have met their total care minutes, while 46% have met their RN minutes

With aged care residents now receiving an additional 3.6 million minutes of direct care every day (compared to 2020-21), Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells said the Government has delivered on its promises despite recent delays to the Aged Care Act. 

“We went to the election promising to improve the lives for older Australians in aged care and these results show we have delivered historically high levels of care,” Minister Wells said.

“I remain committed to supporting and growing the aged care workforce alongside providers. I want to thank the incredible people who are delivering the care – our fantastic aged care workers.”

While there has been an increase of 20 total care minutes per day since 2020-21, one-third of facilities still have more than 10 minutes of care time to make up each day. A further 28% are at least five minutes short of their RN requirements despite positive 24/7 RN coverage.

“[…] This is in addition to delivering our 24/7 nursing requirement, with registered nurses now onsite 98.79% of the time, or 23 hours and 42 minutes per day,” Minister Wells’ release said.

“These results mean older Australians in aged care homes have better access than ever to registered nurses, enrolled nurses, personal care workers and assistants in nursing.”

For the most part, RN availability has been the greatest challenge with many employers struggling to recruit enough RNs to meet their requirements. And with fewer than 2% of homes not meeting their 24/7RN requirements, it’s likely that 24/7 coverage does not mean all residents receive the direct care time they need.

Impressively, many regional providers have been achieving above-average results for their total care minutes. While the metropolitan providers make up the vast majority of the sector, some of their regional counterparts (excluding those with RN exemptions) are setting the tone.

According to the data, the average total care minutes by MMM location are:

1. MMM7: Very remote communities – 246.92 (6 facilities)
2. MMM6: Remote communities – 232.57 (26)
3. MMM5: Small rural towns – 209.31 (300)
4. MMM1: Metropolitan areas – 202.15
5. MMM4: Medium rural towns – 201.14 (178)
6. MMM2: Regional centres – 198.40 (193)
7. MMM3: Large rural towns – 197.43 (218)

Additional insights on care minutes targets will be available on April 16 when Mirus Australia releases its latest sector snapshot.