AGED care providers and consumer groups are at loggerheads in the NSW Government's ongoing inquiry into the future of registered nurses in aged care.
The inquiry was announced after changes to federal legislation removed the distinctions between high and low care facilities.
NSW legislation currently requires high care facilities to have a registered nurse on duty at all times, and this provision has been extended pending the inquiry's outcomes.
It is the only state to have this requirement.
The Australian and New Zealand Society of Geriatric Medicine told the inquiry the increased complexity of resident's medical problems and need for high level care made the presence of a registered nurse in aged care more important than ever.
"Many residents have previously been excluded from low level facilities purely on the basis that there was insufficient expertise of staff available in the form of a registered nurse," the society's submission said.
"These residents were assessed as high level so they could receive registered nurse assistance.
"The chance of each resident needing to access a hospital is 25 per cent each year, but many do not need hospitalisation if facilities have adequate support."
Palliative Care NSW said removing registered nurses would undermine the government's stated aim to increase access to quality palliative care in residential aged care facilities.
The Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association said 75 per cent of aged care beds across the state were for high care residents.
The CPSA's Charmaine Crowe - Federal protections are inadequate
CPSA senior adviser Charmaine Crowe said NSW was unique in its requirement that high care facilities have a registered nurse on duty at all times, and this provided greater levels of protection than that provided under Federal legislation.
The lack of robust staffing regulations under the Aged Care Act had led to numerous incidents where residents were placed at risk, including one case in 2012 where a home had no staff on for a 10.5 hour period overnight but kept its accreditation.
"Despite 95 per cent of nursing homes being fully accredited, recent research found that more than 100 Victorian nursing home residents die prematurely each year from falls, choking, suicide and medication mistakes," she said.
"CPSA calls on the NSW Government to ensure that all nursing homes which look after high needs residents have a registered nurse on duty 24-hours a day, seven days a week."
Leading Aged Services Australia NSW-ACT argued the withdrawal of the NSW regulations would be "a sound and responsible outcome".
The provider organisation argued the need for registered nurses was best regulated by the national aged care system.
The committee is due to present its final report on October 30.
