Geraldton aged care homes meet ‘acceptable’ standards according to new rating system but staffing an issue

A new rating system launched by the Federal Government shows that three of Geraldton’s aged care homes meet an “acceptable” standard but the local sector is facing staffing issues. The aged care star ratings include reviews of Geraldton Shore Care Community, Juniper Hillcrest and Nazareth House Geraldton, based on each home’s compliance to regulations and standards, quality measures, residents’ experience and staffing. Geraldton Shore Care Community received five stars for its compliance, three for its quality measures and residents’ experience and two for its staffing, meaning improvement is needed. A spokesperson for the facility said they were pleased with the results and acknowledged more work needed to be done to improve its staffing. “What the government star rating means is Geraldton Shore Care Community remains a welcoming, safe and happy community for our residents where we have more people wanting to live with us than we have places available,” they said. “We recognise the ongoing challenges of staffing, like many organisations in Geraldton are experiencing. For this reason we’re doing all we can to bolster our team.” Juniper Hillcrest received similar results but only a one-star rating for staffing, meaning significant improvement is needed. Juniper CEO Russell Bricknell said the organisation was committed to improving its staffing issues. Mr Bricknell said the ratings were based on new requirements legislated in October, after the data for the review was submitted, and the organisation was actively working to meet the new standards. “Juniper has since been actively recruiting additional staff,” he said. “The sector is collectively facing the challenge of workforce shortages for both clinical and care support staff and to meet the required targets will take time and effort.” Nazareth House Geraldton received three stars for compliance, quality measures and residents’ experience, and also one star for staffing. The organisation was contacted but did not respond before publication.