From the CEO

The Productivity Commission’s report, ‘Caring for Older Australians,‘ offers an opportunity for much-needed reform of the aged care industry in Australia.

Recently, I met with the Minister for Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, to discuss this report. The Government has a critical responsibility to ensure that older Australians have access to high quality care and support that maximises their independence and quality of life.

There is no doubt that Australia’s aged care system requires significant reform – to ensure viability, to ensure quality and accountability, to enable an adequate workforce for future growth and most critically, to meet the needs of older people. The broader debate by stakeholders identifies that the current system is not sustainable, and the viability of the sector is a critical factor in the reform process.

Overall, it is a bold report, heralding significant changes.

The report acknowledges and considers most of the topics raised by various stakeholders.

It is clear that the Productivity Commission has given key consideration to the 487 submissions from older Australians, their carers, aged care providers, government agencies and other interested parties.

I support the majority of recommendations but others require further detailed consideration in certain aspects, particularly in relation to the assumptions associated with independent pricing and the deregulation of supply. I believe the initial system changes should focus on aged care services in the community so that their potential effect on residential care is better understood.

I see the Gateway concept has merits as an independent information source to assist older people and their carers to navigate the system. What is not clear is how some elements of the proposed Gateway system would be an improvement on existing processes. The elements associated with establishing the Care Plan, assigning a subsidy level and how this can be subsequently reviewed and by whom, need more clarification and consideration.

Some regulation of the system is necessary, so that frail, vulnerable, older people with limited means and ability receive the same access to quality care and accommodation support as those who can afford to pick and choose the arrangement that best suits them.

We need regulation to support an effective quality system rather than to divert the limited resources available away from care towards time consuming paper work. The way the independent authority establishes a schedule of prices and what criteria are used will be critical to the effectiveness of the outcomes proposed.

The reforms will take some time to implement and it is important that the transition to any new system is not rushed, allowing for adjustments as the need arises.

It is important that the positive changes the Government adopts from this report are managed in a well planned and time-considered manner, so as not to overwhelm the service system and its participants.

We need to continue to make improvements to the system of aged care to respond to the needs of older people and their families and to support our dedicated, caring staff in their important good work.

Richard Hearn
Chief Executive Officer

For more information about these recommendations, please visit http://www.naca.asn.au/publications.html

On Friday 18 November, 2011, I spoke on ABC radio in response to the NSW Nursing Home Fire in which several people died.

We were all saddened to learn of this fatal fire in New South Wales. Our thoughts and prayers are with the residents, their families and staff.

ABC Adelaide was interested in understanding the standards adopted in this state and requirements for new facilities, such as our site at Mount Gambier. Fire standards in this State are stringent and extensive. They involve a range of building design outcomes to respond to a threat of a fire in a specific area to ensure any fire does not spread to other compartments within the facility. Our strategy is to move residents in a compartment where the fire has occurred into the next compartment. Our staff are trained annually on the strategies to adopt in response to a fire alarm and evacuation procedures.

Building design outcomes include sprinklers in the rooms and roof spaces, fire compartments, automatic closing fire doors that aim to contain a fire to one area of a facility and fire equipment such as extinguishers, hose reels, and so on. There are preventative checking systems undertaken to ensure our preventative equipment, such as smoke alarms, fire alarms, door closers, etc, are all functional.

Local Councils annually monitor the maintenance of these checking systems. We have extensive independent checks, for example, when a facility is opened, it is inspected by MFS or CFS, the Department of Health and Ageing and the Standards and Accreditation Agency. We have regular external inspections during the year. The MFS also undertakes an inspection every three years to ensure the facility has standards in place. If any deficiency is identified, these are rectified and re-inspected. We have a range of maintenance programs where equipment and systems are checked form time to time.

I finished the interview by encouraging any family member or other person to speak with the site manager if they have any concerns regarding how we prepare for and have in place fire prevention and management strategies.

The national peak body, Aged and Community Services (ACSA) has a campaign to promote the significant and positive impact aged care has on the lives of millions of Australians, with the tagline 'Can't do it without you'. The aim is to promote aged care as a requarding career choice. Resthaven is a sponsor of this campaign.

The Uniting Church believes everyone deserves access to aged care when and where they need it. To highlight the issues facing the aged care industry, the Uniting Church launched a community awareness campaign to increase public awareness, with the intent of raising it as an issue for government action.
Join the call for:

• Access – aged care should be based on need not financial circumstances.
• Appropriate care – care should be centred around individual needs and services need to be appropriately funded.
• When it’s needed – people are eligible but unable to access aged care - they need a response now!
• Where it’s needed – metropolitan, rural or remote; care should be available close to community and family support. 

For more information visit: http://presbyterysynod.sa.uca.org.au/aged-care-home.html.

I have been reflecting on the image of aged care and Resthaven, in particular, with regard to community attitudes and awareness.

The media has a powerful influence on public perceptions. We actively seek to work with them to champion aged care and give balanced viewpoints.

Emotive media articles that intentionally highlight unfortunate experiences, which are not the norm but a minority, give an unfair negative generalisation of aged care services and staff who work within aged care. Such media items often overlook the love and dedication shown by staff to the frail, older, dependent people they know and care for every day, often under trying circumstances. They frequently lack in depth investigation and understanding of the core issues involved, family guilt or how family members’ grief is transferred to others due to the need for a relative to move into residential care.

I only have to walk through one of our facilities to meet many happy and content older people living in comfort and with love and care surrounding their everyday lives. Yes, they would like their families to visit more, but when they can’t, our staff and volunteers support them well.

Aged care service providers work in a heavily regulated environment where accountability is paramount. Funding is limited and yet more and more is expected from shrinking budgets. These well known issues need addressing by our political leaders, such as reduced funding and lack of incentives to work in the industry, shortages of Registered Nurses and doctors, punitive measures that are implemented with no funding, etc.

With the proportion of Australian people aged over 65 years set to increase from around 14% to 25% of the total population in the next 25 to 30 years, there will be demand for a considerable number of additional staff to work in aged care, compared with other industries. In order to attract staff, the image of aged care, as perceived by the public, is of immense importance.

Resthaven takes an active approach to presenting more positive and balanced examples of ageing and of working in the aged care sector. Read more here.

It is important that we remind the public of the intrinsic significance of relationships that older people have with friends and loved ones, as parents, grandparents, great aunties and uncles. The importance of family relationships is a reminder of the ongoing contribution older people make to each other, their family and their communities, even when they are most frail.

Resthaven's commitment to promote positive ageing is well established. Resthaven has taken a proactive approach to improving public perceptions through our 'Positive Images' media campaign.

Our work in aged care is very important. It has a key impact on the daily quality of life of many older people. Without this support, their lives and those of their carers and family would be significantly affected.

Our work attracts people who have an interest in working with and around people, in making a difference. It is important work, often undervalued and with many challenges, as does any work in human services. Resthaven supports initiatives to ensure that inappropriate behaviour in the provision of services does not occur and trust that this is evident in how we deliver our services. We all share the need to be vigilant about any inappropriate behaviour and to be sensitive about how we communicate with others.

However, despite the best of intentions, on occasion, unacceptable incidents may occur. Any form of abuse is of concern to all who work in aged care and is not and should never be tolerated. We aim to maintain quality services and encourage feedback regarding any issues as they arise. Sometimes the challenges we deal with require investigation, as the safety and well being of our residents and clients is our primary concern. We encourage investigation of all relevant contributing factors and responses. It is important to give a balanced, informed view, whenever an issue is raised. It is not our intention, nor is it acceptable, for residents or clients to have a fear of retribution that is directly caused by inappropriate interactions with staff.

The government introduced legislation requiring mandatory reporting of abuse of older people, as well as police checks for all staff and volunteers working in Aged Care Facilities. Under the legislation, all staff have an obligation to report any incidents of suspected or alleged abuse of residents. The identity of persons who make such reports can be protected. This is in addition to reporting incidents as part of our duty of care.

Resthaven encourages feedback and suggestions for improvement.

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In discussing our values in this area, I wish to reinforce my gratitude for the very good work our staff do in supporting older people and making a key difference to their lives.