ANMF Submission to the Independent Evaluation of Star Ratings for Residential

The ANMF thanks the Department of Health and Aged Care and Allen + Clarke Consulting for the opportunity to provide a submission on the independent evaluation of star ratings in residential aged care following our videoconference on the 31st of May. [...] It is important, however, to recognise that the star rating system was not designed to ‘accurately reflect the quality of care’ but rather the primary objective of the star rating system is to provide consumers with a readily understandable means of comparing nursing homes based on the domains captured by the star rating system. [...] The ANMF recommends that the Department engage with members of diverse groups and their representatives in order to determine what their needs and preferences are and how the star rating system might be able to be improved to capture and depict data that is relevant to them and convey it in a way that is understandable, accurate, and useful. [...] The ANMF recommends that the Department of Health and Aged Care consult with members and representatives from these groups to determine the most effective and appropriate ways to increase awareness of the star rating system and draw on past research and evaluations of strategies/interventions that have been used previously to inform future efforts to raise awareness. [...] Here, the ANMF stresses that as the main goal of the star ratings is to provide understandable information to consumers, the ratings must be reflective of actual practice and indicative of the quality of care that consumers can expect to be provided within that facility.