Aged care news highlights from the week ending 23 July 2021, aggregated by CompliSpace.

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.

Coronavirus/COVID-19 News

Reminder: New COVID-19 Vaccine record keeping and reporting requirements starts next week

(Note: this excerpt is from the Department of Health newsletter. We cannot provide a link to the full version of this story until the Department of Health uploads it to their website.)

According to the Department of Health, new weekly reporting requirements on COVID-19 vaccination status recently introduced for all residential, Home Care Package (HCP) and Short-term Restorative Care (STRC) providers will come into effect on Tuesday 27 July 2021.

From this date, Residential Aged Care Providers will use the My Aged Care provider portal to submit weekly reports on the total number of residents at each service and, of those, the number of residents and workers at each service who have received a single dose or all required doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. This is in addition to the current reporting of workforce COVID-19 vaccination.

The new requirement applies to all providers of residential aged care facilities and Multi-Purpose Services (MPS), flexible aged care providers of STRC delivered in a residential aged care setting, and providers of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program (NATSIFACP) who operate residential services.

From Tuesday 27 July 2021, providers of HCP and STRC services will be required to use the My Aged Care provider portal to submit weekly reports on the total number of workers for each service and, of those, the number of workers at each service who have received a single dose or all required doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

More detailed information on the reporting requirements, together with answers to frequently asked questions, can be found on the department's website.

Govt commits to provider, union vaccine demands

According to Australian Ageing Agenda, the Federal Government has backed the proposal from aged care provider and union groups to suppport vaccinating the residential aged care workforce quickly and safely. A coalition of 11 peak organisations representing aged care providers and workers called on the government earlier this month to implement five key principles to support a quick and safe rollout strategy of the Pfizer vaccine to the aged care workforce.

Mixed messages over the COVID-19 vaccine rollout

According to Aged Care Guide, Prime Minister Scott Morrison passed the blame of the inadequate COVID-19 vaccine rollout on to the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisations (ATAGI) on Wednesday, causing a new blame game around the failure of the rollout.

Half of aged care workers still unvaccinated as mandatory deadline looms

According to Aged Care Insite, with the deadline for mandatory vaccination for aged care workers less than eight weeks away, over half of the workforce remains without at least one vaccine dose. At the end of June the PM announced that vaccination would now be a condition of employment for people working in the aged care sector. At that time, 33 per cent of residential aged care staff, or 85,272 people, had received a first dose of the vaccination.

Two Sydney aged care homes return positive tests among unvaccinated staff

According to Aged Care Insite, two aged care homes in Sydney have returned positive COVID-19 tests among unvaccinated staff members.

Prioritising residential aged care worker COVID-19 vaccination

According to the Department of Health, the Commonwealth is rapidly increasing access points for residential aged care workers to get vaccinated as quickly and safely as possible. All residential aged care workers can receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, irrespective of age, across all access points. Workers can call the dedicated phone line for the National Coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccine helpline on 1800 020 080. All residential aged care workers are a priority to be vaccinated. Keep up to date on the COVID-19 vaccine roll out at www.health.gov.au.

Other News

Aged care reform webinar focuses on the workforce – 2 August

The Department of Health, is holding a series of interactive webinars to share information about the aged care reforms announced in the 2021 Federal Budget, in response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

The webinar on 2 August focuses on how the reforms can help to grow a bigger, more highly skilled workforce that can deliver compassionate, safe and high-quality care through:

• financial support and incentives for aged care workers
• support for workforce planning.

Kevin McCoy, CEO Australian Unity, will join departmental panellists for the webinar. It also includes lived experience perspectives from the aged care workforce. Find out more and register for this webinar on the department’s website.

Providers welcome HCP ‘milestone’ as wait times fall

According to Community Care Review, the wait for a high level home care package has fallen to under a year for the first time since reporting began, new government figures show. According to the home care packages report for the quarter ending March 31, the estimated wait time for level 2, 3 and 4 packages is currently between nine and 12 months. Previously, the wait time for a level 4 package has been 12 months or more, according to the available information, with wait times hitting almost three years in 2018-19. People assigned a level one home care package are waiting between three and six months.

New Basic Daily Fee Supplement

According to the Department of Health, the new Australian Government basic daily fee supplement provides an additional $10 per day, per resident. The supplement is available to approved residential, respite and flexible (multi-purpose services) aged care providers who formally agree to the undertaking and submit quarterly reports.

What you need to do now:

If you have not already submitted the undertaking form, you need to do so to receive the supplement. Payment will be calculated from the date of submission of the formal undertaking.

Collect quarterly food and nutrition and daily living services data. The first quarterly report for each service or outlet is due on 21 October 2021 for the period 1 July – 30 September 2021.

For further information, including reporting requirements, support and a link to the undertaking form, visit the department’s website.

Electronic National Residential Medication Charts

According to the Department of Health, electronic National Residential Medication Charts (eNRMCs) allow safe and accountable medication management in residential aged care.

The Australian Government will support residential aged care providers to adopt an eNRMC to:

• decrease medication safety risks
• increase visibility of residents’ medication records
• support timely provision of medications
• provide alerts to advise allergies, medication interactions, new prescriptions, follow up
• reduce the number of daily medications taken.

Several vendors are working to develop eNRMC systems which meet eNRMC technical and legislative requirements. Once these systems are approved, they will be listed on the electronic prescribing conformance register. Use of eNRMC is not mandatory, however we encourage residential aged care providers to use eNRMC systems to ensure safe and accountable medication management. Funding will be available to residential aged care providers to contribute to the cost of implementing a conformant eNRMC system.

Information about eNRMC benefits, records and what providers need to do is available on the department’s website. If you have any questions, contact pbsnrmc@health.gov.au

Legislation

Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Care Recipients and Service Staff Vaccination Recording and Reporting) Principles 2021 [CTH] – substantially commenced 21 July 2021

This instrument establishes obligations on approved providers of home care services to keep records and report to the Department of Health workers’ COVID-19 vaccination status and approved providers of residential aged care to keep reports and report to the Department on residents’ vaccination status.