Providers defend their spending on aged service

BELEAGUERED aged care providers have defended their practices, saying their government funding is spent on their residents and paying staff.

“The funding we receive from government is applied directly to the care of our residents,” a Regis Aged Care spokesman said.

The company said it submitted an Aged Care Financial Report with the Department of Health, which requires specific detailed disclosures on financial information.

Fellow provider Arcare said: “All of the entities referred to are subject to an annual audit and are fully compliant with our reporting obligations.”

Estia Health, which employs more than 7500 staff to care for the 8000plus elderly residents in their care, was the only facility to provide a detailed breakdown of how its money is spent.

It said from total funds of $579.9m, approximately $400m — or 70 per cent — was paid to employees, with at least one registered nurse rostered on each shift 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for each home.

A further $90m was spent on medical supplies, food for residents, utilities, technology support, administration and repairs and maintenance for the aged care homes.

Japara said it received $307m from taxpayers but spent $315m on employee costs and providing care and $39m on resident expenses. It posted a $292m loss after writing off goodwill.

Bupa said it received $462m in government funding to support more than 6000 residents. “This translated to approximately $199 per day, per resident,” a spokesman said.

“This funding needs to cover the wages of over 8600 staff, food, heating, cooling, cleaning, gardening, transport, entertainment etc — and compares to some $1300 per bed night for comparable care in a private hospital.”

The business was also spending about $1m a month on PPE to protect residents and staff and was the first to offer paid COVID-19 leave to its aged care workforce back in March.

Director of TriCare Peter O’Shea told News Corp more than 90 per cent of TriCare’s aged care revenue was spent on the day-to-day costs of operating aged care residences.

UnitingCare Australia said its network of aged care providers “supports transparency across Australia’s aged care sector” and complied with all regulatory requirements.

Not-for-profit provider Anglicare said: “At present, funding is not sufficient to cover care delivery costs let alone an investment in future care improvements.”