AMA Submission to the New Program for In-Home Aged Care Consultation

The AMA submission was supportive of the majority of propositions put forward by the consultation paper, but argued strongly against the “independent assessment organisations” proposal. The AMA sees this as another attempt to take the aged care assessments out of the public hospital system, and hand them over to private providers.

It has been the AMA’s ongoing position that the aged care assessment service for older people with complex health and aged care needs must remain with State/Territory health services and their aged care assessment teams (ACATs). Despite underfunding and large volume of work they undertake, most ACATs work well and meet their key performance indicators. ACATs provide medical expertise in assessments, as well as baseline clinical data for subsequent clinical monitoring and evaluation of patient outcomes.

The AMA has continuously argued, the proposed ‘independent assessor’ approach has the potential to further fragment the care for older people, leading to increased and prolonged hospital stays for many of them.