industry & reform
Genuine gripes
Aged care cannot afford to
overlook complaints.
By Craig Porte
As the Royal Commission into
Aged Care Quality and Safety
progresses towards its final
report in November, we can expect many
high-priority areas to receive attention
– funding, staffing levels and the use
of chemical restraints being just a few
examples. Yet there’s one less high-profile
issue that has the potential to define the
success of recommendations made in all
of these areas – and it must not be swept
under the rug.
It’s a factor that could also affect how the
aged care industry performs throughout
the remainder of the COVID-19 outbreak
– a pandemic which has been tragically
ravaging aged care homes worldwide and
is sure to be with us for some time.
That factor is how complaints are
handled in the aged care sector.
Proper complaints management is the
ultimate feedback mechanism, and it has
the potential to provide a regular pulse
on issues in so many areas, yet to date it
has not been given anywhere near the
emphasis that it deserves among aged
care providers.
Instead, quality issues have been a minor
part of information flows throughout aged
care providers’ management systems,
and many organisations have become
complacent. Staff members who should
have been called out for their behaviour
have been allowed to continue; there was
no way of recording and tracking how
levels of complaints changed; red flags
went amiss. What should have been priority
number one – client-centred care –
slipped down the list.
This is despite the introduction of the
Aged Care Quality Standards last July,
which asks that providers use complaints
and feedback to improve care and
service quality. This regulation is process
focused, rather than outcome focused –
encouraging providers to simply “tick the
box” rather than make genuine change.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Getting complaints management right
is critical. It will save lives and improve
the end-of-life experience of thousands
of Australians. There are three key steps
for providers who want to start treating
complaints with the respect that they are
owed and to use them to develop truly
client-centred care.
A CULTURAL CHANGE – AND THEN A
TECHNOLOGICAL ONE
Step one is to prioritise a cultural change
within your organisation, such that staff
members and leaders view complaints as
an opportunity for improvement. It comes
from the top, and progressive service
providers must provide open access to the
CEO and/or board for lodging complaints
so there is no filter.
Step two is to make the complaints
system very open and accessible. While
you may not wish to actively encourage
complaints, it must be clearly felt and seen
that there are no ramifications for offering
them where necessary. In any system there
will always be frivolous complaints, but rest
assured that a properly managed system is
able to identify those too.
Step three is to ensure that your
complaints management system is not a
standalone system but instead integrates
with your overall management system.
This integration will help to ensure that
complaints reach the right people and
can be responded to quickly. A complaint
should trigger a response from senior
leaders in the organisation, just as an
incident like a fall or someone hurt on
the job does today.
A DEDICATED COMPLAINTS SYSTEM
While many customer relationship
management (CRM) system providers will
claim to be able to provide complaints
management solutions, these are
customised versions of their original
systems. For those who go down this
route, they’ll often find that it’s hard
and may not lead to optimal outcomes.
You’re essentially trying to push a square
peg into a round hole – complaints
management is not core to what they do.
A better approach is to implement
a system whose core capability is
complaints management; one in
which interoperability with your other
management systems is built in, and in
which there’s a portal that will allow you
to easily keep tabs on the level and status
of complaints.
LOOKING AHEAD
It is not far-fetched to say that had there
been better complaints management in
the sector to date, we may have stood a
better chance of picking up on the tragic
situations that ultimately led to the aged
care royal commission in the first place.
This is because a proper complaints
management system would have provided
regular opportunities to raise and register
concerns within the organisation in a
systematic way, rather than having to wait
for a whistleblower to decide things had
gotten so far out of hand that going to the
press was their only option.
It’s not too late, and the issue
must not be ignored. One way or
another, complaints management will
become a bigger part of our aged care
system, either through regulation or
proactive action.
This is not a time for the industry
to be defensive. It’s a chance to do right
by your residents and get an edge on
your competitors by delivering truly
client‐centred care. ■
Craig Porte is managing director at
Civica Care, Asia Pacific.
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agedcareinsite.com.au