industry & reform
to stand up for their rights in aged care.
We’re looking to increase our reach and
our brand, so that people know we’re
there when they need us.
Not everyone will need us, but if they
do, we want them to know how to get to
us through our 1800 700 600 number.
The other thing we’re trying to do is
bring a bit of national consistency across
the programs. We’re trying to make
sure that a person who is in northern
Queensland gets similar service, advice
and information as someone in Sydney.
Post royal commission, how long
do you think it will take to get the
sector right?
ACI: You talked about bringing all the
states together, but what else will
OPAN be doing in the future?
CG: One of the things we want to do
is have older people know about our
services and about the value of having
an aged care advocate to walk alongside
them. We want to help them raise their
issues themselves, to empower them
One of the things I’m pleased about is
that there is a reform program that’s
continuing, which we’re heavily involved
in with other organisations like COTA,
Dementia Australia and the National Aged
Care Alliance.
I think there’ll be some fundamental
things that will need investment. If we
want to steer the ship in a different
direction around workforce, and around
expectations and culture, that takes quite
a bit of time.
While we might’ve started that journey,
I think it’s going to take about two to 10
years to actually get the system at the
place we want it to be, where it’s that
person-centred nurse approach and not
just tokenistic.
Is it a problem that improvements
might bite into the margins of
providers, and do you see that as a
barrier to improving care?
There are providers out there at the
moment who deliver really good care,
and they’re still financially viable. I think
it’s finding that sweet spot where they’re
focusing on the consumer and their
family, having transparent conversations
with them, setting expectations.
It’s focusing on what that individual
person wants. That’s going to bring
good care and deliver a profitable and
sustainable model.
Over time, yes, there will be a need
to look at the funding model. The
opportunity here is with things like the
classification system, maybe they will
get a more sensitive approach to aged
care needs.
Will it bite into margins? Possibly a little
bit in the first place. But I think people
will become smarter and better about
how they deliver their care in a way that
attracts customers.
Has anything surprised you from the
royal commission?
As some of the submissions come
through and I talk to colleagues, it’s
interesting to see the ideas about what’s
needed. Things like clinical schools within
residential facilities – so actually having
aged care as a vital and interesting place
for registered nurses to work and train in.
We had those ideas back in the 1990s,
yet they fell off. We have these pockets
of ideas, but how do we propagate them
across the system?
That’s what I find surprising. We know
some of the things that need to happen,
we know what’s going to build the brand
of aged care, and what’s going to make
people respect aged care and want to
work in aged care. But we haven’t funded
it sustainably.
Hopefully, that’s what will come
out from the royal commission: the
sustainability of these efforts. ■
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