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High standards
New aged care quality standards
pass through parliament.
A
ged care bodies have welcomed the passage through
parliament of a new set of quality standards.
Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Ken Wyatt
said the standards would intensify quality compliance across
residential, home and remote care.
“Under the draft new regulations, aged care providers’ governing
bodies and boards will be legally accountable for safety and
quality,” Wyatt said. “There will be mandatory clinical frameworks
for each home, including disease control, open disclosure and
minimising the use of restraint.”
LASA chief executive Sean Rooney said the new standards
deliver a single approach to quality assessment across the different
aged care settings.
“The single framework will both streamline assessment of the
performance of providers against these new standards as well as
improve the information about quality and safety that is available
to consumers,” Rooney said.
“LASA supports the new Aged Care Quality Standards on the
basis that these standards reflect current evidence on how best to
deliver quality care, support, services and accommodation for our
older Australians.”
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation thanked the
federal senators who supported the Aged Care (Single Quality
Framework) Reform Bill 2018.
ANMF also commended Senator Derryn Hinch for calling for
mandated staffing ratios through a proposed amendment (which
was later voted down). Hinch took to Twitter to apologise to the
union and urge people to remember who voted against it.
The Aged Care Quality Standards replace the Accreditation
Standards, Home Care Standards, National Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program Quality Framework
Standards, and Transition Care Standards.
The eight standards covered are:
• Client dignity and choice
• Ongoing assessment and planning of client personal and
clinical care
• Services and supports for daily living
• The provider’s service environment
• Feedback and complaints
• Human resources
• Governance
Each includes a statement of outcome for the client and one
of expectation for the organisation, as well as requirements to
demonstrate that the standard has been met. ■
Testing times
Testing for illegal or illicit drugs vital to
providing safe aged care environment.
I
mplementing staff drug and alcohol
testing is not ‘about catching people’
but giving providers the framework
to manage those who are substance
dependent, says managing director of The
Drug Detention Centre, Bryce Dick.
In his presentation at the recent ACSA
conference, titled ‘Drugs & Alcohol in the
Workplace’, Dick said the rollout of drug
and alcohol policies and education was an
instrument that needed to include all in the
aged care industry.
He said that measures were tightened
after the Quakers Hill fire in 2011 where
4
agedcareinsite.com.au
nurse Roger Dean lit fires in a bid to hide
his theft of painkillers from the facility.
Dick said the coroner found there were
a number of things that were missed, such
as reference checks and gaps during Dean’s
employment, and recommended further
action.
“There are more deaths in prescribed
medicine than illegal or illicit drugs,”
Dick said.
He mentioned figures from the ABS
showing that substance abusers are
four times more likely to be involved in
workplace accidents, are responsible for
15 per cent of workforce fatalities and cost
around $8 billion in absenteeism and lost
productivity.
He said a policy was needed to fit
everyone, and that extended profiling will
help find substance users as 70 per cent of
drug users are employed.
He added that testing won’t reveal
the level of usage but can show the risk
involved in order to identify those in
need, and prone to risk factors like sleep
deprivation.
“A test can’t determine the level of
impairment but can strongly indicate a risk
of impairment,” he explained.
“Under WHS/OHS laws the employer and
the employee must act to eliminate risks.”
He said gone are the days where
mandatory testing was present only in the
mining, construction and building sectors.
“We need to provide a safe working
environment not just for your staff but for
the most vulnerable people in society,” he
said. “Drugs are a workplace safety issue.
Mines and heavy industry are not the only
safety-critical industries.”
Dick said industrial tribunals accept the
validity of dismissal or other disciplinary
action where drugs are involved.
“Polices need to be clear, understood
and reasonable – consultation is the key,”
he said. ■