Major Aged Care Reforms in 2024: What to expect
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Weekly Wrap: 27 January 2021

26/01/21
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Aged care news highlights from the week ending 27 January 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

Aged care sector among first to receive COVID-19 vaccine

According to Aged Care Guide, aged care staff and residents will be included in the first phase of administered COVID-19 immunisations in mid to late February once the vaccines have been approved by Australian experts. The Pfizer vaccine and AstraZeneca vaccine will be delivered to the population over a five-phase priority system that is outlined within the Australian COVID-19 Vaccination Policy released in November 2020. High priority aged care groups will be included in this phase along with quarantine and border workers, frontline health care groups, and disability staff and residents.

 

Special workforce to roll out COVID vaccine in aged care homes

According to Australian Ageing Agenda, the government has secured a workforce to give aged care residents and staff the COVID-19 vaccine at the facility where they live and work, the health department has told Australian Ageing Agenda. The Federal Government’s COVID-19 vaccine strategy, which was announced on 7 January, includes aged care residents and staff as a priority group in the first of five phases of the rollout. Under the strategy, aged care residents and staff will receive the Pfizer vaccine from mid-to-late February, pending its approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

 

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine questions arise with aged care deaths in Norway

According to Aged Care Insite, the Australian government is following up on reports that the Pfizer-Biotech COVID-19 vaccine has caused side effects among several people who have been administered the vaccine in Norway. Norwegian authorities have confirmed at least 29 elderly aged care recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine died after taking the jab. All deaths occurred in people over 80 years of age and whom had “serious basic disorders”, according to the Norwegian Medicines Agency. And now doctors in the country are being told to “carefully consider who should be vaccinated,” the ABC reports.

 

Norway deaths haven’t derailed Pfizer approval for elderly: CMO

According to Aged Care Insite, Australia’s chief medical officer has added some context to reports of about 30 deaths among elderly people in Norway given the Pfizer vaccine. At a press conference on Tuesday, Professor Paul Kelly said in a normal week in Norway 400 people die in aged care facilities. “And so that has to be put into the context of what has happened after people have received vaccines,” Kelly said. He added that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) was still in contact with its counterpart in Norway about the deaths. “We know that Norway is looking into those issues very directly and very specifically for each of those cases.”

 

Update on Australia’s COVID-19 vaccines for residential aged care facilities

(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, residential aged care facility staff and residents are a priority under the Australian Government’s COVID-19 Vaccines National Rollout Strategy and will be among the first people in Australia to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Phase 1a.

A staged rollout of the vaccine is expected to commence from mid-February 2021.

COVID-19 vaccines will be safe and free for everyone living in Australia. The Australian Government strongly encourages everyone to get vaccinated.

A COVID-19 vaccine is just one part of keeping the community safe and healthy. It is important for everyone to continue COVIDSafe practises.

Keep up to date with trusted information

We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.

We will keep you informed about COVID-19 vaccines and the rollout via this newsletter, and more information will be distributed to residential aged care facilities, people in residential aged care, aged care sector peak bodies and stakeholder groups, and the general public soon.

You can find more information, including translated information, and subscribe to receive the COVID-19 Vaccines Updates on our COVID-19 vaccines website.

You can also get regular updates via the Department of Health’s social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

 

St Basil’s, Epping Gardens unprepared for outbreaks

According to Australian Ageing Agenda, two Victorian aged care facilities that experienced COVID-19 outbreaks leading to the deaths of 83 residents were insufficiently prepared for emergencies with surge workforces “inadequate to manage the scale of the outbreak”, an independent review has found. The independent review released in mid-December was commissioned by the Department of Health to look into the events surrounding the COVID outbreaks at St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Fawkner and Heritage Care’s Epping Gardens Aged Care in Epping in September. The reviewers Professor Lyn Gilbert and Adjunct Professor Alan Lilly, who also undertook independent reviews into the COVID-19 outbreaks at Dorothy Henderson Lodge and Newmarch House in New South Wales in early 2020, identified that emergency planning and preparation was untested and reactive at both facilities.

 

Visitor bans hurt residents’ wellbeing: study

According to Australian Ageing Agenda, blanket visitor bans should not be used as a method to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in aged care facilities, new research recommends. The research published this week in the International Long-Term Care Policy Network explores the impacts of visitor restrictions during COVID-19 lockdowns internationally including in Australia, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, the United States and the United Kingdom. The multinational study led by University of Sydney Associate Professor in ageing and health Lee-Fay Low makes five key recommendations to ensure residents are not negatively impacted by measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.

 

Other News

Govt resumes 2020 ACAR

According to Australian Ageing Agenda, there are now just 2,000 residential aged care licences up for grabs under the current funding round while 8,000 places remain on hold pending the royal commission’s final report. Priority for the initial 2,000 places in the 2020 Aged Care Approvals Round, which was postponed last March to divert resources to the coronavirus response, will be given to providers who are ready to deliver care immediately or within 18 months. The 2020 ACAR now includes 1,028 short-term restorative care places plus $150 million in capital grants targeting services outside major cities.

 

New Serious Incident Report Scheme (SIRS) comes into effect in April

According to Aged Care Guide, the Federal Government intends to establish a new Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) into the aged care sector from 1 April 2021, which further expands on the current compulsory reporting requirements of residential aged care facilities. Government will be debating the proposed bill in February, aiming to approve the bill for April implementation, which includes fines for facilities if they target staff who report abuse to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

 

Extra $44 million for dementia initiatives

According to Aged Care Guide, the Federal Government announced an extra $44 million to extend national dementia programs covering training, support, education, and services for people living with dementia on Tuesday. Dementia education and training association, Dementia Training Australia, and dementia support service, Dementia Support Australia, will be receiving the $44 million to extend their national programs from July 2021 to June 2022.

 

Aged care worker gets green light for unfair dismissal case over flu jab

According to Aged Care Insite, a care worker who lost her job after she refused a flu jab will be allowed to argue she was unfairly dismissed, the Fair Work Commission has ruled. Maria Corazon Glover refused a vaccination because of an allergic reaction she had 57 years ago, when she was a child living in the Philippines. Her case, which is yet to be heard, is expected to hinge on the legality of employers requiring that staff undergo vaccination.

 

Bureaucracy, paperwork and a shifting policy framework confront disability service providers

According to Inside Ageing, two out of every three disability-service providers had to turn away potential clients over the last year, despite only the same proportion making a profit. According to the latest overview in the National Disability Services’ State of the Disability Sector Report 2020, there was increased financial viability for providers assisted by the JobKeeper stimulus scheme but ongoing capacity constraints. The University of New South Wales’ Centre for Social Impact survey of 410 disability service providers last year – released this week – revealed an increased percentage of viable businesses despite the challenges of natural disaster and pandemic.

 

Government calls for tenders to train aged care nurse specialists

According to Inside Ageing, Australia’s federal health department has called for proposals to train specialist aged care nurses. Following last year’s Budget announcement of $10.8 million in funding to increase nursing skills in the sector, Health this week [Jan 8] released details of the Aged Care Transition to Practice Program. The program wants to engage registered nurses in their first year of clinical practice and develop their capabilities specific to aged care.

 

Aged Care Royal Commission involved in cyber security breach

According to Inside Ageing, on Sunday 22 November 2020 – 59 Aged Care Royal Commission documents were impacted in a cyber security incident. While there is no evidence that any personal information was accessed and the incident was deemed to not be a notifiable breach, this incident highlights the need for all organisations to ensure that proper data governance measures are in place to protect all data. The Royal Commission files were stored and secured by a reputable document management service provider – demonstrating that even cyber security experts are unable to completely remove the risk.

 

Home care wait list refuses to budge

According to Community Care Review, the waiting list for home care continues to hover around the 100,000 mark despite the release of almost 43,000 home care packages. The Home care packages quarterly report for the period ending September 2020 shows 99,268 older Australians are still waiting for a home care package. That figure includes 62,395 people were waiting for any sort of home care package and 36,873 waiting for their appropriate level of care. That compares to 102,081 who were waiting at the end of the previous quarter.

 

Experts convene to boost quality of aged care meals

According to Australian Ageing Agenda, a national congress on food in aged care is bringing together local and international experts to explore the relationship between good food, nutrition and the dining experience. Next month’s joint Maggie Beer Foundation and Department of Health initiative provides an opportunity for a hand-picked group of experts and aged care stakeholders to share knowledge and best-practice examples. The congress aims to help the health department design policy that helps aged care homes improve food, nutrition and the dining experience of residents.

Legislation

No significant developments this week.

 

Resources and Upcoming Events

Webinar series: Changes to regulatory arrangements for residential aged care providers supporting NDIS participants from 1 December 2020

According to the Department of Health, Residential Aged Care (RAC) providers supporting National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants will need to be registered* with the NDIS Commission from 1 December 2020. This also applies to RAC providers who start supporting NDIS participants after 1 December 2020. *Note that registration will be automatic for RAC providers with NDIS participants as at 1 December 2020.

Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) is currently delivering a series of webinars to help RAC providers with the transition and to understand their responsibilities.

 

Flu vaccination poster

The Department of Health has issued this Flu Vaccination Poster. Residential aged care facilities may wish to display the attached poster at entrances, to alert anyone entering the facility of the flu vaccination requirements that came into effect on 1 May 2020.

 

Older Person’s COVID-19 Support Line

According to The Department of Health, a new Older Person’s COVID-19 Support Line has been set up to provide information, support and check on older Australians during the period of social distancing measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. COTA Australia, National Seniors, Dementia Australia and the Older Person’s Advocacy Network have banded together to deliver this service with support from the Australian Government.

Senior Australians, their families and carers can freecall 1800 171 866 if they:

  • would like to talk with someone about what COVID-19 means for them or a loved one
  • are feeling lonely or distressed
  • are caring for a someone and need some information or a listening ear about what COVID-19 means for your circumstances
  • are worried about COVID-19 means for their usual aged care service
  • are worried about a friend or family member living with dementia.
  • are unable to access information on the internet and would like up-to-date advice.

Home care services providers can also use the number and dial option 1 to refer home care clients who would like a call from an independent organisation to check on their wellbeing.

The service will include outbound and inbound calls to provide contact, reassurance and practical advice on connecting to services to maximise social engagement and wellbeing whilst at home.

 

Resources on diverse population groups are now available for aged care staff

According to The Department of Health, The End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) website helps you to care for older Australians at the end of life. Our new diversity resources can help health workers and aged care staff to care for:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
  • Care leavers
  • Carers
  • Culturally and linguistically diverse people
  • Financially or socially disadvantaged people
  • People experiencing homelessness
  • Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people
  • People living in rural and remote areas
  • People with spirituality and faith beliefs
  • Veterans

How people think about death, dying and end of life is different for each person. Learning about these differences can help you to provide good palliative care. Access these resources on the Diverse Population Groups page of the ELDAC website.

 

What Matters Most – New person centred care resources

According to The Department of Health, Palliative Care Australia, through a Dementia and Aged Care Services Fund grant, has launched a suite of resources to encourage early conversations about What Matters Most to older people, their care and their end of life preferences.

 

6 steps for safe prescribing antipsychotics and benzodiazepines in residential aged care

Issued by the Department of Health, this infographic outlines the 6 steps for safe prescribing antipsychotics and benzodiazepines in residential aged care.

 

Aged care video alert: Dignity of risk

According to Lexology, the concept of dignity of risk is not entirely new, however it now has a position of prominence in aged care with the Aged Care Quality Standards. In this video update, senior associate Dr Melanie Tan explains:

  • What does dignity of risk mean?
  • Where and when does dignity of risk apply?
  • What is the duty of care within dignity of risk?
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ACE Editorial Team

ACE is published by Ideagen. CompliSpace is Ideagen’s SaaS-enabled solution that helps organisations in highly-regulated industries to meet their governance, risk, compliance and policy management obligations.

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