Queensland families will now have more information when choosing an aged care home or a hospital thanks to new laws passed by the Palaszczuk Government last week.

A new interactive website, similar to TripAdvisor, will be launched within the next twelve months enabling elderly residents and their families to make informed decisions when choosing a nursing home.

Member for Ipswich Jennifer Howard MP praised the new Health Transparency laws saying that greater transparency will help Queenslanders access information such as how many staff are employed at a nursing home and what skills mix they have to take care of elderly residents.

“People don’t have access to this sort of information now and they’re forced to put their blind trust in the nursing home they’ve chosen for themselves or elderly relatives hoping that it won’t turn out like Earle Haven,” said Ms Howard.

“Wouldn’t you want to know if the nursing home you’re considering for your elderly mum or dad is the sort of place that regularly employs only one nurse to cover 150 to 200 residents?

“Not knowing this sort of information beforehand puts your elderly parents at risk.”

Ms Howard said that the new laws will also require public and private hospitals to report clinical information such as the percentage of patients treated within clinically recommended timeframes, staffing levels, and the number of golden staph infections in a quarterly period.

The new laws will also require public residential aged care facilities to mandate minimum average hours of care per day for elderly residents.

“Public nursing homes will now need to provide a minimum average of 3.65 hours of nursing and personal care to residents daily,” Ms Howard said.

“This is a fantastic step in the right direction which will improve the safety of elderly residents in nursing homes and will drive quality and safety in Queensland’s public and private health services.”