Thread by @the_shb

Few important things going on in #agedcare lately:

1) Bupa ANZ continues to top our list of worst-performing aged care providers, with 39 sanctions & penalties in the last three years - and an underlying profit of $407m in FY2021 #auspol #agedcarerc
theaustralian.com.au/nation/politic…

Those playing along at home will know Bupa has been besieged with abuse scandals, sanctions, and care failures. Its homes keep being reaccredited. Occasionally its funding is frozen. It does "apologise" every time, though, so there's that. #auspol
abc.net.au/news/2022-08-1…

It's also been trying to offload its NZ #agedcare homes, with Macquarie Capital sounding out investors including EQT and a Japanese firm - but there were no takers. There's been chatter about it dumping its Australian homes in the past too #auspol theaustralian.com.au/business/datar…

Then there's today's news: a new research report from StewartBrown indicating that 67% of the 1300 aged care homes it surveyed across the country are operating at a loss. SB has called for (yet another) emergency funding package #auspol #agedcare theaustralian.com.au/nation/emergen…

(SB has also called for older Australians "who can afford it" to contribute even more to their cost of care, beyond hefty accom deposits and care fees. How is this tested? Should this involve making a spouse still living in the community sell their home, etc? I digress) #auspol

But point being: providers are again seeking more emergency funding, claiming they are at risk of collapse. And, as @SquigglyRick reported, providers are also being advised to "avoid" high-needs residents who cut into their profit margins #auspol thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/…

It's worth noting that the way that aged care subsidies are calculated and funded changed on Oct 1 to the AN-ACC model (an outcome of the Royal Commission) - which will likely ease pressure on providers as funding better reflects individuals' needs #auspol afr.com/wealth/persona…

But as always, the conversation about #agedcare is dominated by money. How can providers become profitable. Who ought to subsidise care. What standard we can afford. Very little emphasis in the policy discourse about our obligations to older people, and their rights #auspol

So important things are slipping through to the keeper, like malnutrition. Unfathomably, the Albanese government has left nutrition off its new set of quality indicators. 1 in 3 homes continues to spend less than $10 per resident per day on food #auspol
theaustralian.com.au/nation/politic…

Improving nutrition standards in aged care was one of Labor's five key areas of aged care policy focus during the federal election. It's highly disappointing that that splashy announcement hasn't at minimum resulted in the introduction of a nutrition standard #auspol #agedcare

I understand (and felt) the optimism that with a change of government, there might be a different approach to aged care. But the government doesn't get a free pass on something as important as aged care nutrition standards. This is a quality of life issue for residents #auspol

It's important to return the conversation about aged care reform to the key question of the human rights of older people - which should not be subjected to the unedifying spectacle of politicians and economists squabbling over "what we can afford." #auspol #agedcare