Aged care news highlights from the week ending 25 March 2022, 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

Winter Preparedness PPE Packs

According to the Department of Health, as part of the Australian Government's investment of a further $1.2 billion to prepare and protect senior Australians against COVID-19 and influenza this winter, the Australian Government is pre-positioning personal protective equipment (PPE) standard packs in all residential aged care services.

Distribution of PPE packs is expected to commence on Monday, 11 April 2022 and be completed by mid-May 2022. Packs will be allocated based on the number of residents as reported through your My Aged Care data, and as detailed in the following table, noting quantities are approximate:

All facilities will receive these packs automatically. If providers do not wish to receive this pack, please opt out via the Residential aged care Winter Preparedness PPE Pack - Opt Out online form by midnight local time Wednesday, 6 April 2022.

Packs will be delivered in tranches. From 8 April 2022, providers can check their delivery address and communications, as well as track delivery, through their COVID-19 Support Portal via the My Aged Care provider portal.

ATAGI recommends COVID-19 Winter vaccine dose for residents in aged care facilities

According to the Department of Health, the expert Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) recommends an additional COVID-19 vaccine dose for residents in aged care facilities before winter.

ATAGI also recommends a COVID-19 Winter dose for other vulnerable groups also considered to be most at risk of serious illness. These groups, which may include some of your workforce, are:

• adults aged 65 years and older
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over the age of 50, and
• people aged 16 years and older who are severely immunocompromised.

ATAGI recommends the above vulnerable groups receive their COVID-19 Winter dose from 4 months after their initial booster dose. COVID-19 Winter vaccine doses will be available for these vulnerable groups from 4 April 2022.

Aged care providers should now start planning for the delivery of COVID-19 Winter vaccines for their residents. The options available to your facility to organise your Winter COVID-19 vaccinations include primary care providers for COVID-19 Winter dose administration, Commonwealth in-reach COVID-19 Winter Dose Clinics, and aged care provider on-site COVID-19 Winter dose clinics.

ATAGI advises that COVID-19 Winter doses can be administered at the same time as the annual flu vaccination.

Fact sheets will shortly be available to you to share with your residents and their families and with your workforce on COVID-19 Winter dose recommendations.

COVID-19 taskforce publishes new risk classification tool

According to Hospital + Healthcare, the National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce (NCCET) has developed a risk classification tool to guide clinicians making decisions about which people are most likely to benefit from drug treatments.

While the available evidence is not sufficient to enable the Taskforce to determine which individual patients are most likely to benefit from treatment, the recommended drugs are likely to be most effective in preventing severe illness and mortality in those people who are at highest risk of these outcomes.

The examples in the matrix are based on the clinical expertise of the Taskforce and are not definitive nor exhaustive. Clinicians should also consider whether people are unlikely to be able to access higher level care due to geographical remoteness or other factors. Feedback for the tool can be sent to guidelines@covid19evidence.net.au.

Other News

Next 2021 Basic Daily Fee Supplement Report due 21 April 2022

According to the Department of Health, the next Basic Daily Fee Supplement Report is due 21 April 2022, for all residential aged care services. You can access the report from 1 April 2022.

To ensure your service continues to receive the Basic Daily Fee supplement of $10 per resident, submit your form by this due date.

Administrator access is required to submit the report, using the form submission portal in the My Aged Care service provider portal. Download the explanatory notes to help you complete your report.

For more information and support, call the My Aged Care Provider and Assessor Helpline on 1800 836 799, visit the department’s website or email NutritionInAgedCare@health.gov.au.

Have your say: New residential aged care design standards

According to the Department of Health, the Department wants to hear what is important to senior Australians in the design of high quality residential aged care accommodation.

The Department encourages you to share the online survey with the people you care for, their families and carers. They can also complete the survey by phone or request a hard copy with a reply-paid envelope.

Find more details on the department’s Consultation Hub. The survey is open now, and closes on 20 April 2022.

Specialist Dementia Care Program webinar: Apply for Phase Two grant

According to the Department of Health, eligible aged care providers in the following Primary Health Network regions are now able to apply for a grant through the Specialist Dementia Care Program (SDCP) Phase Two Grant Opportunity (GO5304):

• NSW: Hunter, New England and Central Coast, Central and Eastern Sydney, South Eastern Sydney
• WA: Perth South
• Victoria: Eastern Melbourne, Western Victoria
• SA: Adelaide
• Tasmania: northern and southern regions only
• ACT.

Applications for funding under this grant round close 2pm AEST, Friday 13 May 2022.

The department will host a webinar at 2–3pm AEST, Thursday 7 April 2022 to provide more details on this grant opportunity. Register for the webinar by 5pm AEST, Wednesday 6 April.

The webinar will be recorded and available after the event. Find the recording and information about the Grant Opportunity (GO5304) on the GrantConnect website.

National Strategy for Volunteering: Submissions open for questions and feedback

According to the Department of Health, Volunteering Australia (VA) has launched a website to help develop a National Strategy for Volunteering.

VA will conduct consultations until September. People can have their say via an open submission page on the website and a mix of face-to-face and digital workshops in every state and territory.

You are invited to submit questions or ideas about how VA can engage with you on aged care volunteering, and to subscribe to the VA newsletter for updates as opportunities for engagement open.

National Forum: Enabling Better Aged and Community Care for Forgotten Australians

According to the Department of Health, the inaugural National Enabling Better Aged and Community Care for Forgotten Australians Forum is happening on 4 April in Brisbane and via Zoom. Hear from speakers including Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck. Register to attend in person or virtually.

Have your say: Understanding the experience of the aged care sector using translating and interpreting services

According to the Department of Health, the Department is conducting a survey on the issues the aged care sector faces when accessing translating and interpreting services for residents including culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people, Auslan users and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their families. The online survey closes COB 22 April 2022.

Information for providers using Services Australia’s Aged Care Online web services

According to the Department of Health, Aged Care providers upgrading to web services need to:

• have web services-compatible Business to Government (B2G) software
• register their organisation in Provider Digital Access (PRODA) – this can be done in PRODA now, while awaiting web services software to become available
• register the device in PRODA
• register the details of which services are using B2G software by completing the Register or update for Aged Care web services form (AC027). AC027 forms cannot be processed until your developer’s Notice of Integration (NOI) has been issued.

Find more information on the Services Australia website.

Help for software developers to prepare for aged care system change

According to the Department of Health, Services Australia is upgrading its residential aged care payment system from June 2022.

Software developers providing services to residential aged care providers will need to update their software accordingly. Support files for the new residential aged care funding model are now available to help with this.

These changes support the transition to the Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) funding model on 1 October 2022.

Updated Industry Code for visiting aged care homes

According to the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN), the Industry Code for visiting aged care homes, which aims to balance best practice safety measures in aged care with the rights and mental health of older people across Australia has been updated on 22 March 2022. This incorporates updated definitions of an aged care exposure to COVID-19 and an aged care outbreak of COVID-19, in line with the updated Government guidelines.

View and download the latest version of the code here which has been developed by consumer and provider organisations including OPAN.

Collective action against misuse of psychotropics begins

According to Australian Aging Agenda, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care have issued a joint statement highlighting the overuse of mood stabilisers and sedatives as a restrictive practice in the disability and aged care sectors.

The three agencies have agreed to work together to reduce the inappropriate use of psychotropic medicines through:

• raising awareness of the risks associated with inappropriate use of psychotropic medicines amongst healthcare, aged care and disability workforces
• supporting improvements in the availability and quality of behaviour support planning and preventative and de-escalation strategies
• strengthening understanding and capacity for appropriate informed consent, prescribing, dispensing, administration and cessation of psychotropic medicines.

NSW nurses, midwives vote in favour of second statewide strike next week

According to ABC News, nurses and midwives will again walk off the job this week after voting in favour of a 24-hour stoppage, the union says. More than 160 branches of the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) agreed to the strike — the second in six weeks — with members set to hold public rallies on Thursday, March 31.

PC seeks feedback on role of indirect aged care workers

According to Australian Aging Agenda, the Productivity Commission has released an issues paper on the role that digital platform workers, independent contractors and agency workers should play in the aged care sector, if at all.

Submissions are due by April 29 with a draft report to be released by June and a final report handed to the government by September.

Research details extent of aged care workplace violence

According to Australian Aging Agenda, a new report from RMIT University calls attention to the high level of violence and aggression directed at aged care home workers by residents. To help managers deal with violent and aggressive behaviour in residential aged care facilities, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation developed a 10-point plan. The plan provides employers with practical systems, processes and changes they can implement in 10 areas to prevent and reduce the opportunity for violence.

Funding to support on-site pharmacists in residential aged-care facilities

According to Hospital + Healthcare, the Federal Government has announced $345.7m funding for on-site pharmacists and community pharmacy services in government-funded residential aged care facilities (RACFs). Under the measure, every government-funded RACF will be able to employ or engage an on-site pharmacist or community pharmacy services.

The program will commence from 1 January 2023 with the implementation details to be finalised with the Pharmacy Guild, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and the aged-care sector.

Legislation

No significant developments this week.