Big picture
Experts want more details on revised aged care standards .
By Elise Hartevelt
Aged care experts have raised significant concerns around the language and implementation of measures contained in the government ’ s revised quality standards for the sector .
In October , the federal health department published the redrafted Aged Care Quality Standards in line with the Royal Commission ’ s recommendations for a more precise and detailed overview .
Peak union , the Aged & Community Care Providers Association ( ACCPA ,) said it ’ s too early to determine whether the revised standards are an improvement .
“ A significant concern we have is that there ’ ll be a lot of changes to the words , but it won ’ t be clear what those changes actually mean in terms of the services delivered on the ground ,” said ACCPA ’ s general policy and advocacy manager Tim Hicks .
“ We don ’ t want a situation where we ’ re just changing words , but we ’ re still doing everything the same .
“ Our initial impression is that this is still the case .”
The consultation paper is a modified version of the Aged Care Quality standards published in July 2019 , which aimed to deliver guidelines for providers on how aged care provision should look like .
The new standards include practical advice around areas such as clinical care , food and nutrition , organisations and residents .
Yet , ‘ significant concerns ’ were voiced by aged care peaks and providers during an ACCPA conference held early October , who asked the health department for ‘ more detail , more specificity and more objective measurements ’.
“ The existing quality standards report uses relatively vague and aspirational language and refers to outcomes that can never be guaranteed a hundred per cent of the time ,” Hicks said .
“ So , the ACCPA is seeking greater clarity in the revised standards around the organisation ’ s expectations regarding the steps they can take and what would be considered best practice .
“ In our mind , that ’ s also what the Royal Commission wanted to do .”
During their investigations , the umpire ’ s 2021 report observed that consumers and providers were often confused about what was expected of them during different circumstances .
Hicks said the ACCPA will seek improved clarification and detail about how aged care is carried out .
The ACCPA will hold at least five sessions with their members , ‘ reviewing the draft line by line ’ to work through each standard and provide formal feedback to the government .
“ We ’ ve got less than five weeks for the consultation process . That might seem like a decent amount of time , but actually , it ’ s relatively tight because we ’ ve got to go through each of those standards in detail ,” Hicks said .
“
It ’ s definitely an improvement .
“ Everyone ’ s still formulating their view – it ’ s a big document , released at a time when there ’ s an awful lot of other things going on .
Macquarie University aged care professor Michael Fine said the revised standards were an improvement but ‘ still a bit legalistic ’.
“ It ’ s much clearer , but it ’ s not perfect . I think it will help people to discuss and review it ,” Fine told Aged Care Insite .
“ But the crucial problem is that they don ’ t seem to have anything other than the rules . “ It ’ s like , ‘ How are you going to manage crime ? Let ’ s look at the law ’.”
Fine said specific questions remain , such as how often homes will receive inspections and what the process will look like . He also criticised a lack of emphasis on the involvement of the residents in their homes and how the rights of staff will be facilitated . He ’ d also like to see a more prominent inclusion of carers and technology in the quality standards .
“[ Setting standards for ] Aged care is difficult because , on the one hand , you need to have some fairly solid rules to let people know where they stand ,” Fine said .
“ But on the other hand , they also need to change , develop , and be flexible .
“ It ’ s definitely an improvement , but until we start talking about how to implement these standards , they are not perfect .” ■
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