The information in the Weekly Wrap is aggregated from other news sources to provide you with news that is relevant to the aged care sector across Australia and worldwide. Each paragraph is a summary of the subject matter covered in the particular news article. The information does not necessarily reflect the views of CompliSpace and Critical Success Solutions.
Information for Aged Care Providers
This special edition of the Department of Health newsletter provides information on the changes that take effect from 1 July 2019, including:
- My Aged Care website
- new Charter of Aged Care Rights
- new Aged Care Quality Standards
- National Mandatory Aged Care Quality Indicator Program
- improvements to home care pricing information
- reductions to the maximum basic daily fee
- regulation of physical and chemical restraint in aged care
Aged Care Fees, Charges and Payments
The Department of Health has released an update of the schedules for residential and home care fees and charges, as well as subsidies and supplements that will take effect from 1 July 2019. This is in line with changes to the age pension and indexation rates. The new rates are now available on the department’s website. The Department of Human Services’ quarterly review of fees and charges for all care recipients will be effective from 1 July 2019. Care recipients and providers will receive letters letting them know if there is a change to a person’s fees and charges or if a refund may be due.
Tied up for 12 hours: What Happened to Terry Could Happen Again Under New Rules
The ABC reports that when it published stories showing nursing home residents with dementia drugged up on antipsychotics and physically restrained in their chairs, then-aged care minister Ken Wyatt promised to introduce tougher regulations. But what followed shows how a minister's best laid plans can go awry. The minister asked the Department of Health, the industry and doctors to help with his reforms, which come into effect next month. But some experts question whether they are any better, saying the regulations could actually make the problem worse.
Know Your Rights: Aged Care Quality Standards and Charter of Aged Care Rights Start This Month
According to Aged Care Insite, today the government ushers in new standards in the aged care sector with the Aged Care Quality Standards and Charter of Aged Care Rights both coming into force. Minister for aged care, Richard Colbeck, said the “major reform package” will deliver choice and flexibility for older Australians. “Today is the first upgrade to residential aged care standards in 20 years. The new Standards will improve transparency for senior Australians and their families, as well as making regulation clearer for providers. “The Standards are centred on the needs of senior Australians and provide a solid foundation for providers’ continuous improvement.” The charter of rights replaces the existing User Rights Principles 2014, which have four separate charters dealing with the provision of aged care.
The Department of Health has Released a ‘New and Improved’ My Aged Care Website
The Donaldson Sisters discuss the launch of the new My Aged Care website, including its history and key features.
Indexation Rises Not Enough to Cover Costs, Peaks Say
According to Australian Ageing Agenda, the federal government has announced a 1.4 per cent indexation rise for aged care providers – but aged care peaks say this isn’t enough to cover rising wages. The government this week announced its updates to subsidies and supplements, as well as adjustments to home care fees and charges, effective from July 1, which it says are in line with changes to the age pension and indexation rates. For residential aged care, this means the 9.5 per cent Temporary Subsidy Increase which commenced 20 September 2018 for the Quality Care Fund, and the general subsidy boost from 20 March 2019 will cease on 30 June 2019. Aged care peak body Leading Age Services Australia CEO Sean Rooney said the rates of payment will harm the ability of providers to deliver care and support older Australians. “This has been a compounding issue with wages increasing by more than 3 per cent over the last three years, and with indexation now confirmed as being set than less than 1.5 per cent, the situation for many providers is crucial,” he said.
Aged Care Staff can Turn Around Low Rates of Advance Planning
According to Australian Ageing Agenda, aged care providers can help increase the uptake and implementation of advance care planning, according to a background paper released by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. The paper released this month shows that the majority of Australians are missing the opportunity to have a say in how they want to be cared for should they become incapacitated by dementia or other circumstances. Only three out of every 100 older Australians have a statutory advance care directive, a review of existing research shows. The Royal Commission says the low rates could be the result of lack of awareness and understanding, as well a general reluctance to have end-of-life conversations. It says this can be improved by better educating health care professionals and aged care staff and ensuring correct storage and filing of documents.
New Mode of Retirement Living a Magnet for Capital
According to The Investor, an evolving model of retirement living in Australia that incorporates independent living and aged care has become a magnet for global and domestic investors. With demand for so-called ‘ageing in place’ facilities rising fast amid Australia’s ageing population, investors are encouraged by the steady, long-term investment prospects and relatively low compliance barriers. Local superannuation funds, as well as private equity and pension funds from North America, Asia and to a lesser extent Europe, are key players while sovereign funds from Asia are also showing interest. ‘Ageing in place’ is a style of housing pioneered by Dutch aged-care organisation Humanitas with its ‘Apartments For Life’ complexes. The purpose-built flats are integrated with care services, a model the company says has helped keep people in good health and dramatically reduced the proportion of residents needing high-level care.
Home Care Queue Passes 129,000
According to Community Care Review, almost 1,300 older Australians have joined the national home care queue, with more than 129,000 people currently waiting for their allocated home care package, according to the first set of figures released since the re-election of the Coalition government. The number of people waiting at the end of March stood at 129, 038 compared to 127,748 six months ago, according to the Home Care Packages Program Data Report released this month.
Health and Justice Partnership Tackles Elder Abuse
According to Community Care Review, a Melbourne health organisation has teamed up with a local community legal centre in a new partnership aimed at targeting elder abuse. Eastern Health is trialing a service where healthcare and social workers are trained to identify older people who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing elder abuse and then refer them to Eastern Community Legal Centre for appropriate legal support services. The initiative is being delivered with funding from the federal government’s national elder abuse plan.
New Herpes Zoster (Shingles) Vaccine Available
According to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Newsletter, shingles can severely affect older Australians. There have been alerts about vaccinating older Australians against high profile winter hazards such as influenza, but shingles is a common but lesser known disease which should also be considered preventable. Shingles immunisation development is relatively recent and is currently recommended for:
- adults aged 70 years to 79 years, free under the National Immunisation Program (NIP)
- adults aged 60 to 69 years
- adults 80 years and older, and
- adults aged 50 or over who live in the same household as someone who has a weakened immune system.
Legislation
The following instruments take effect from 1 July 2019:
- Aged Care Quality Standards
- New Charter of Aged Care Rights
- National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program
Resources and Upcoming Conferences
Better Practice Guide to Complaint Handling in Aged Care Services
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s Better Practice Guide to Complaint Handling provides guidance on how to create an effective, resolution-focused complaint system in aged care services or how to enhance existing processes. The Commission has produced this booklet to help encourage a positive, blame-free culture around complaint handling in aged care services by:
- fostering an understanding of the complaints journey and how it affects the people involved
- setting out the essential elements for the effective management of complaints within a service including skills, procedures and policies.
Aged Care and Elder Law Conference – 16-18 July 2019, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane
The Thomson Reuters Aged Care & Elder Law Conference series is taking place in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane over 16-18 July 2019. The conference aims to address the key issues in legal, regulatory and compliance in aged care, retirement villages and senior living, including implications of the Royal Commission, navigating the new framework and Standards, workplace risks, responding to suspected elder financial abuse, and “being litigation ready”.
National Elder Abuse Conference – 22-23 July 2019, Brisbane
According to the National Elder Abuse Conference website, the NEAC will help safeguard the right of older Australians to live free from abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect. NEAC 2019 is an opportunity to drive real change as the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety unfolds and a National Plan on Elder Abuse is in the spotlight. With speakers being progressively announced, the inspiring line-up of international, national and local experts will attract more than 500 delegates from across Australia to collaborate on the issues associated with elder abuse.
Living and Ageing Well Conference – 17 September 2019, Grand Hyatt Melbourne
According to Pearson Clinical Assessment, the overarching goal of clinical intervention when working with older people, regardless of diagnosis, is to improve the person’s quality of life. Whether you work with older adults in their own home and community, in a hospital, outpatient setting or in a residential aged care facility, there are strategies you could be using in your interventions to further enhance your clients’ quality of life. At this conference, we’ll share valuable insights and strategies from industry experts. And we’ll workshop tools designed to help you apply holistic care to older adults with a range of diagnoses, across many settings, with a goal of improving the quality of life for older adults.
“Grandfathered Client” Data Collection Template – Extension of Timeframe
According to a Department of Health Media Release, on Monday 17 June 2019, the Department of Health made available the data collection template for providers to record client details of their grandfathered clients who are not yet registered on My Aged Care. Following feedback from the sector and providers about the time needed to complete this task, the department has extended the project deadline from 1 September 2019 to 23 October 2019. This means providers will have more time to enter data about grandfathered clients into the My Aged Care Provider Portal.
ACSA National Summit – 8-10 October 2019, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) is hosting the 2019 ACSA National Summit, to be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), 8–10 October 2019. The 2019 ACSA National Summit will bring together thought leaders and innovators – both local and international – to discuss hot topics, challenges and opportunities, workshopping together to uncover solutions to some of the aged care industry’s biggest challenges.
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