AMA Submission to the Aged Care Royal Commission in response to Counsel Assisting's Recommendations
AMA provided a submission addressing the recommendations made by the Counsel Assisting the Aged Care Royal Commission. The AMA submission supports a number of recommendations by the Counsel Assisting, but opposes the proposed new primary care model for aged care.
The AMA argues that the proposed model will lead to further fragmentation of care, rather than aiming to bring health care and aged care closer together. In our submission, the AMA called on any care model developed to endorse the continuity of care for older people to ensure their improved health outcomes.
The AMA did not support amending MBS so that initial prescription of antipsychotics can only be done by Geriatricians and/or Psychiatrists, as recommended by the Counsel Assisting and called on the Royal Commission to review the Counsel Assisting’s recommendation. We also called on the Royal Commission to bring the recommended staffing ratios in aged care closer to a 5-star model, as per the Royal Commission’s own research. That way adequate number of registered nurse care hours will be ensured for people who are entering residential aged care older, frailer and with multiple comorbidities.
