Latest Insights on the Mandatory Care Minutes Requirements

By Taranjot Minhas, Consultant

The Department of Health and Aged Care (the Department) and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (the Commission) conducted a joint webinar on Tuesday 5 September 2023 (slides available here), to discuss reporting assessments, responsibilities of residential aged care providers to meet their care minutes targets, and how residential aged care providers can prepare, ahead of the mandatory care minute requirements from 1 October 2023.

We have collated the following key insights from this webinar for you to leverage and prepare.

1. Changes to the Staffing Star Ratings are being actively considered to reflect commencement of mandatory care minutes. This limits the Staffing Star Ratings of 3 stars and above to services that have met their mandatory care minutes targets. Currently it is possible for a facility to achieve a 3 star in Staffing Star Ratings without meeting the facility’s care minute target.
2. The Department is now assessing the accuracy of the information included in providers’ QFRs and 24/7 RN reporting through their new Care Minute Reporting Assessment. They highlight that deliberate or negligent misreporting will have proportionate compliance actions associated.
3. Acknowledging that the care minute targets are set based on the previous quarter’s resident data, the Department also recommend each facility reviews their staffing and recruitment policies and plans – aiming to retain and recruit staff to meet the care minutes targets, and planning for how changes to your resident case mix may impact your quarterly targets in the future.
4. It has been made explicitly clear that there are no plans for exemptions to care minutes target requirements.
5. The Commission will be using information sharing with the Department to gain regulatory intelligence and identify facilities unable to meet care minute targets. Their regulatory response will take a risk-proportionate approach to any failures to comply with this requirement.
6. Where a provider is not meeting their care minute obligations and are placing consumers at risk of harm OR are being wilfully non-compliant – proportionate compliance or enforcement action will be taken by the Commission. This could include caution letters, issuing a direction, non-compliance notice, or notice to agree for high level of risk. Even providers who are non-compliant with care minute targets but providing quality and safe care, will still need to work with the Commission to work towards meeting their care minute compliance.
7. Where there is significant and repeated non-compliance, and a provider’s response is found to be insufficient and/or there are severe and immediate risks to residents, the Commission will take escalated action, such as the imposition of sanctions. “A failure to meet care minute targets will not be viewed in isolation, but as a source of intelligence that helps build a picture of risk”.
8. Providers are expected to manage the root cause of not meeting their care minute obligations and to work towards eventually meeting the required targets (in compliance with Quality Standards, specifically Standards 2, 3, 7 and 8).

It is also worth noting that the pilot audits for the drafted Strengthened Quality Standards allow for single service and multi-service audits to occur. In cases of multi-service audits, multiple services operated by one provider are audited sequentially. Hence, in future, it is possible that one facility attracts the Commission’s attention due to its non-compliance with care minute targets, but also triggers audits at other facilities operated by the same organisation.

Mirus have been working on solving the care minute and AN-ACC maze on multiple fronts. Amongst the key features for our Metrics clients is the ability to know their care minute targets now rather than waiting for the Department to release them.

Our Mirus Works and Care Minute Manager clients are ready for October 1 with the ability to plan, track and report on a facility’s care minutes, taking the shock out of preparing their QFR and significantly reducing the time required.

If you would like to know more how we are supporting clients through this complex time, please reach out.