Major Aged Care Reforms in 2024: What to expect
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Weekly Wrap: July 7, 2019

9/07/19
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Aged care news highlights from the week ending 7 July 2019.

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.


Stressed-out Providers Struggle to Keep up with Change

According to Community Care Review, many providers are feeling confused and stressed by changes affecting the home care sector which took effect from the beginning of this month, according to an industry trainer. Lorraine Poulos of Lorraine Poulos and Associates says more than 500 delegates attended seminars in capital cities and regional centres around the country during May and June in the lead-up to the implementation of the changes on July 1. Delegates heard from a range of legal and financial experts as well as industry and consumer stakeholders including StewartBrown, COTA, etools and Mable. “What has emerged from these seminars is that there is still some confusion and anxiety about the new changes in home care,” Ms Poulos told Community Care Review.

Stop the Rot in Oral Care for Elderly Australians

According to Australian Ageing Agenda, the ongoing Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety has highlighted several shocking deficiencies in the care of older Australians including the lack of oral care. Among the measures in urgent need of addressing is the significant lack of oral care provisions for older Australians being cared for at home or living in residential aged care facilities. Poor oral health can contribute to potentially life-threatening cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, Type 2 Diabetes and pneumonia among older people.

New App ‘Game Changer’ in Fight Against Flu Outbreaks

According to Aged Care Insite, as of June this year there has been a recorded 75 flu outbreaks in NSW aged care facilities, with 86 residents requiring hospitalisation and 18 recorded deaths. And this week, an aged care facility in NSW was put into lockdown after three deaths due to an influenza outbreak. Twenty staff and 20 patients fell ill with flu-like symptoms, with five residents being hospitalised. To create better responses to these types of outbreaks, a new app has been developed by the team at the Public Health Unit at Sydney Local Health District. The FluCARE app is set to be piloted in 30 aged care facilities in the district. The app’s algorithm will analyse data and trigger an alert when the criteria for an outbreak is reached, sending email notifications to aged care staff and management as well as the District’s on-call public health officer and designated GPs.

Improving Food Experiences

According to Australian Ageing Agenda, a project in Tasmania involving two aged care facilities is developing nutritional strategies that reduce malnutrition among residents. There has been much talk about malnutrition among aged care residents recently including at the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which heard that half of residents are moderately or severely malnourished. It also heard that a number of older people are entering care services without adequate levels of nourishment and once in care remain malnourished. To address this topic, Dr Emma Lea, senior research fellow at the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre at the University of Tasmania, is working on a two-year study testing a whole-of-organisation intervention to enhance the ability of staff to deliver best-practice care and nutrition.

Legislation

Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Comparability of Home Care Pricing Information) Principles 2019 (Cth) – Schedule 2 Commenced 1 July 2019

This instrument introduces measures to better inform current and prospective home care recipients by facilitating comparability of pricing information of approved providers of home care. The majority of the instrument commenced in March 2019. The remaining section commenced 1 July 2019. This section introduces a new sanction where an approved provider of home care overcharges a care recipient, a new ongoing obligation to provide written information about pricing and several changes relating to the fairness and transparency of fees.

Aged Care Amendment (Ratio of Skilled Staff to Care Recipients) Bill 2017 (Cth) – Lapsed on 1 July 2019

This Bill lapsed on 1 July 2019 and cannot proceed unless a new Bill is introduced. The Bill aimed to introduce a mandatory ratio of skilled staff to care recipients in residential care homes.

Aged Care Amendment (Resident Welfare and Provider Disclosure) Bill 2019 (Cth) – Lapsed on 1 July 2019

This Bill lapsed on 1 July 2019 and cannot proceed unless a new Bill is introduced. The Bill aimed to mandate that approved aged care providers must report the numbers of falls among residents, and the number of medication errors suffered by residents.

Resources and Upcoming Conferences

New Approved Provider Application Forms are Now Available

The Department of Health has released new application forms and guidelines for organisations seeking approval to provide residential, home and/or flexible care. The new forms contain questions specific to the Aged Care Quality Standards which take effect from 1 July 2019.

If your organisation is applying for approval to provide residential care, home care or flexible care, you must use the relevant new application form. There are different forms for:

  • new applicants
  • existing approved providers
  • government organisations.

New Home Care Pricing Requirements Now in Place for Home Care Providers

The Department of Health has announced that home care providers are now required to meet new pricing requirements. This includes publishing their pricing information in the new standardised schedule on My Aged Care. Any provider that has not entered their pricing information are required to do so as soon as possible. Providers will need to save their pricing information against My Aged Care Service Items (not Outlets) for it to appear on the public Service Finder. The department is monitoring home care providers’ compliance under the new requirements and may take compliance action where appropriate. Information and all support materials are available on the department's website.

2019 ACFA Annual Report Now Available

The Department of Health has released the latest Aged Care Financing Authority's (ACFA) 2019 Report on Funding and Financing of the Aged Care Industry. Read the report to find out more about:

  • scale and funding structures
  • financing performance based on 2017-18 data
  • future demand for aged care
  • challenges of achieving a sustainable aged care system.

Resources to Promote Aged Care Advocacy Services

The Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) has developed two posters to assist in promoting the services they offer under the National Aged Care Advocacy Program.

  • The Talk to Us poster aims to inform older people, their families and friends about options for support in resolving any issues they may have with their aged care services.
  • The Enrol in Talk to Us First poster promotes OPAN’s free online ‘Talk to Us First’ advocacy training for aged care staff.

All aged care service providers will shortly receive two copies of the Talk to Us poster and one copy of the Enrol in Talk to Us First poster for display in their organisations.

New Charter of Aged Care Rights Resources

The Department of Health has released new resources to support the sector’s understanding of the Charter are available. Resources include a:

  • Charter of Aged Care Rights booklet for consumers to inform them of their aged care consumer rights
  • Charter of Aged Care Rights poster to display in your organisation and promote awareness of the Charter.

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.

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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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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