The Tell Touch Times

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission's Sector performance reports for April–June 2023 has pointed out numerous areas of non-compliance in aged care facilities and home care services. While the focus on feedback often ends up confined to one standard (Standard 6), it's essential to recognise that feedback is a thread that weaves through every aspect of care provision. This article will explore how an effective digital feedback and complaints system can lead to improvements across all quality standards in both settings, not just in the commonly isolated Standard 6. Feedback: The Common Denominator in Every Standard Feedback should not be sequestered into a single standard. Whether it's governance, risk management, clinical care, or workforce issues, feedback is the lifeblood that can rejuvenate each area, making it more compliant and effective. Feedback Influences Governance and Risk Management . Timely feedback can lead to the implementation of effective governance s...

The efficacy of feedback and complaints systems in healthcare is increasingly well-documented, with multiple studies pointing to its pivotal role in enhancing quality care. But how does this body of evidence apply to aged care, a subsector with its unique challenges and opportunities? This article delves into five significant studies in healthcare and explores how their findings could be seamlessly transferred to elevate the quality of aged care, both in residential facilities and in home-based care settings. Study 1. Using patient feedback to drive quality improvement in hospitals: a qualitative study (Berger S, Saut AM, Berssaneti FT Using patient feedback to drive quality improvement in hospitals: a qualitative studyBMJ Open 2020;10:e037641. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037641) This first study showed that using patient feedback to drive quality improvement requires: Involvement and buy-in of staff at all levels,  Patients should be able to provide feedback through a variety o...

The pilot audits for the revamped Aged Care Quality Standards are nearing completion, and we want to offer you a focused glimpse into the changes, particularly concerning feedback and complaints management. "Feedback and Complaints" is no longer a separate standard; now, it's integrated into 6 of the 7 new standards. This aligns perfectly with our longstanding belief: feedback is at the core of quality care. Specifically, section 2.6 of the proposed new standards outlines detailed requirements for managing feedback and complaints. So, can these multifaceted standards realistically be met with old-fashioned, paper-based systems? Spoiler alert: NO. As the sector leans more into digitization, having a digital feedback and complaints management system is not just an advantage—it's an absolute necessity. The Evolving Standards The new aged care standards make it abundantly clear: feedback and complaints are not peripheral issues. They are central to the continuous improvem...

As our society greys, so too does the complexity of delivering high-quality, sustainable aged care. This challenge isn't confined to Australian shores; it's a worldwide phenomenon. The Australian Government's " Intergenerational Report 2023: Australia's Future to 2063 " provides an illuminating roadmap for adopting digital technologies to tackle these impending issues. But is the digital shift as important as the government makes it out to be? The Aged and Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) provides some insights in its own response to the report. In this article, we build on ACCPA's commentary , particularly focusing on the technology adoption paradigm in aged care. Immediate Challenges in Australian Aged Care The Intergenerational Report 2023 has painted a concerning picture for the future of aged care in Australia. As we identified in a previous article , although the nominal funding for the sector will rise, the actual spending per capita is ...

As demographics shift, and as medical advancements continue to increase life expectancy, societies worldwide face the challenge of caring for an older population. Australia is no exception. According to the Intergenerational Report 2023  (released August 24), government spending on aged care services is expected to rise significantly in the coming decades. However, does an increase in nominal spending necessarily mean better care for older Australians? A closer look reveals some surprising insights. The Numbers Today   In 2022, Australia's GDP was $1.675 trillion, with 1.1% allocated for aged care services. This amounts to approximately $18.425 billion. The current population utilizing these services is broken down as follows: Residential aged care: 188,000 people Home care: 216,000 people Transition care: 3,500 people Home support: 818,000 people In total, 1,225,500 individuals are using these services, translating to roughly $15,041 spent per person on aged care services in...

The Honorable Anika Wells, Minister for Aged Care, commissioned an Independent Capability Review of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Authored by David Tune AO PSM, the review was tasked with recommending how the Commission’s capability could be improved to better support its regulation of the aged care sector. The report uncovers an alarming array of statistics and delivers urgent recommendations, particularly emphasizing a crucial need for the Commission to rectify significant shortcomings in its complaints process. While we concur with the report's diagnosis, we disagree with the proposed treatment. We believe the fundamental premise of the report is misguided. Our combined efforts should address the root cause of the multitude of complaints, instead of focusing primarily on enhancing the Commission's ability to manage them. The commission received over 92,000 calls, emails and web form submissions between July 2022 and the end of February 2023. These are astronom...

As we all settle into routinely conducting the new Quality Indicator (QI) Program surveys, we thought we should look at how it can be done better to save time and make life easier. We delve into a comparison of two strategies for conducting these surveys: digital versus paper forms. We'll discuss how implementing a digital solution not only aligns with the legal requirements of data handling but also could translate to significant time and cost savings for your organisation. On April 1 2023 the QI Program expanded to include 6 new indicators: Activities of daily living Incontinence care Hospitalisation Workforce Consumer experience Quality of life Data for the first 9 can be extracted from existing care management, HR or accounting systems. The last two are different beasts. They require each and every care recipient to be surveyed twice, each and every quarter. Whilst the "Quality of Care Experience" and the "Quality of Life" surveys are not particular...