Elderberry Expert Rating and Opinion
The Elderberry Index for Southern Cross Care Thornton Park is 3.38 out of 5, against a national average of 3.81. Two findings stand out as positive, and three are worth a closer look.
Things we noticed
Positive standouts
Food enjoyment improved in the latest survey
68% positive in 2025, compared with 27% in 2024: 41 percentage points higher.
Residents show greater confidence in staff skills
95% answered “Always” or “Most of the time”, compared with 89.5% across other homes.
Worth a closer look
Reported care time falls short of a staffing target
Total care: 223 vs 225 minutes; registered nurses: 45 vs 45 minutes per resident per day.
Staffing rating trails the national average
2 out of 5, compared with 3.18 across other rated homes in the August 2026 extract.
Residents’ experience rating trails the national average
3 out of 5, compared with 3.62 across other rated homes in the August 2026 extract.
Sources and Explanation
This is a programmatic interpretation of published data, not an in-person inspection or a separate expert-assigned score. The figures are the Elderberry Index and its four government component ratings; a measure the home has no published rating for is left out. Our rating methodology.
Ratings: August 2026. Survey comparisons: 2025 interview responses from that extract. Other Australian homes in the same ratings extract; survey comparisons also require the same interview year. Each eligible home has equal weight; missing/invalid values excluded. These are descriptive comparisons, not resident-weighted or adjusted for differences in care needs.
How findings are selected
Survey gaps of at least 3 percentage points, rating gaps of at least 0.3 stars, and changes of at least 10 percentage points can qualify. These are editorial selection thresholds, not tests of statistical significance. Benchmarks need at least 30 homes. Each side shows up to three eligible findings; missing values never become negative findings. Specific combined food evidence and sustained care-target results are prioritised, then larger differences. Respect and caring are grouped when both qualify.
Food spending uses the My Aged Care sector median for Jan–Mar 2026; resident enjoyment comes from the 2025 survey. The combined finding reports two separate observations from different reporting periods; it does not establish that spending caused the survey result. Year-to-year survey samples may differ and respondent counts are unavailable. Care consistency uses the latest four submitted, quality-checked care-minute records and direct RN minutes without EN top-up.
A lower compliance rating is a comparison with other homes, not a claim of an active sanction. Higher expenditure alone is not treated as better care. Unadjusted clinical incident measures are not used to rank quality here.
My Aged Care home profile · Government Star Ratings extract
Benchmark populations
| Measure | Mean | Other homes |
|---|---|---|
| Elderberry Index | 3.81 | 2365 |
| Residents’ experience | 3.62 | 2434 |
| Compliance | 4.83 | 2395 |
| Staffing | 3.18 | 2454 |
| Quality measures | 3.07 | 2456 |
| Respectful treatment | 95.86% | 1354 |
| Feeling safe | 96.45% | 1354 |
| How well the home is run | 89.33% | 1354 |
| Getting needed care | 94.47% | 1354 |
| Confidence in staff skills | 89.47% | 1354 |
| Encouragement to stay independent | 88.59% | 1354 |
| Staff explaining things | 81.82% | 1354 |
| Enjoying the food | 70.26% | 1354 |
| Following up concerns | 85.20% | 1354 |
| Kind and caring staff | 95.96% | 1354 |
| Having a say in daily life | 93.20% | 1354 |
What is the food like at Southern Cross Care Thornton Park?
When residents surveyed at Southern Cross Care Thornton Park for the 2025 Residents’ Experience Survey were asked whether they like the food, 68% answered “always” or “most of the time”, 41 percentage points higher than the 27% recorded in 2024. Another 26% answered “some of the time” and 5% “never”.
Food spending at Southern Cross Care Thornton Park in January to March 2026 was $11 per resident per day, 31% below the sector median of $16. In the same quarter, spending on dietitians was $0.35 per resident per day, 25% above the sector median of $0.28.
How are meals prepared?
According to Southern Cross Care Thornton Park, breakfast, lunch and dinner are all cooked fresh. All meals are prepared on site.
Do residents enjoy the food?
Residents who answered “Always” or “Most of the time”.
68% of surveyed residents
Spending & preparation
Daily spending on food and dietitian services, and how meals are prepared.
Sources and Explanation
How much care and nursing does Southern Cross Care Thornton Park provide?
Southern Cross Care Thornton Park reported 223 minutes of care per resident per day in January to March 2026, 2 minutes below its target of 225 minutes. Of those minutes, 45 came from registered nurses, matching the registered-nurse target of 45.
Southern Cross Care Thornton Park met both its total and registered-nurse targets in three of the last four quarters. Minutes of care per resident per day ranged from 223 to 230 across those four quarters.
Who provides that care?
Personal care workers provided 177 of the 223 minutes (79.4%), followed by registered nurses (45 minutes, 20.2%) and enrolled nurses (1 minute, 0.4%). Southern Cross Care Thornton Park also reported spending on physiotherapists, podiatrists, speech pathologists, dietitians, and lifestyle and recreation workers in the same quarter.
What do residents say about Southern Cross Care Thornton Park?
In the 2025 Residents’ Experience Survey, 73% of residents surveyed at Southern Cross Care Thornton Park answered “always” or “most of the time” when asked whether staff follow up when they raise things, below the 85.2% average across other homes by 12.2 percentage points. When residents were asked whether they feel safe (90% against 96.5%) and whether staff are kind and caring (90% against 96.0%), answers were also below the average for other homes.
The largest gap above other homes was when residents were asked whether staff know what they are doing: 95% answered “always” or “most of the time”, against an average of 89.5%.
What should you ask about on a visit?
A visit is a chance to ask about how the home records and follows up concerns. Of residents asked whether staff follow up when they raise things, 26% answered “always”, 47% “most of the time”, 16% “some of the time” and 11% “never”.
Do residents get the care they need?
When residents surveyed at Southern Cross Care Thornton Park were asked whether they get the care they need, 58% answered “always” and 37% “most of the time”.
How does Southern Cross Care Thornton Park spend on resident care?
Total spending at Southern Cross Care Thornton Park in the 2024–25 financial year was $436.74 per resident per day, and care and nursing made up 60.0% of it. Care and nursing spending of $262.20 was 1% below the sector median of $264.85. These figures are the home’s costs, not the fees a resident pays.
Where does the rest of the spending go?
Spending on other categories included administration ($60.52), accommodation and maintenance ($51.78), and cleaning and laundry ($24.48) per resident per day. Within care and nursing, the largest amounts per resident per day went to personal care workers and assistants in nursing ($161.49) and registered nurses ($56.30).
