March 2021 saw the long-awaited release of the Final Report by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality & Safety. This report marks a real potential inflection point for the industry as a spotlight is focussed on why or how the industry has arrived at this point, and what can be done to inspire a wave of improvement across the sector.
With just the Summary and Recommendation report coming in at 340 pages – commentary on the report has been extensive, and anticipation is high for how the Federal Government will respond. Undoubtedly this will provide the source of far more speculation over the upcoming months ahead of the 11th of May Federal Budget, where the government has indicated it will respond fully to the recommendations and outline its plan for the sector.
Whilst not wanting to add to the fervent speculation of exactly HOW the Government will respond, there are undoubtedly some themes within the Report which Care providers can heed to start preparing.
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Invest in Staff Development
With an inevitable focus on care levels, staff and overall facilities – operators right now have an opportunity to invest in staff training and development. The adage of “What happens if I train them, and they leave vs. what happens when I don’t train them, and they stay” is a paradigm that needs to be overcome. High turnover cannot be branded as an excuse for not having comprehensive staff development programs and in fact, the absence of such can exacerbate the turnover. Formal and informal training, micro-credentials, and workshops need to be a fundamental part of operations.
Minimum staffing ratios and rostering construct provisions (including Registered Nurses)
Right staff, in the right place at the right time
Increased regulation seems inevitable for Aged Care facilities; thus, operators will require more governance and systems to ensure they comply with requirements. Ensuring the workforce has the correct skillsets and competencies, tracking who is authorised to do specific tasks and even systems to restrict who can access facilities will be critical to defending the safety and compliance of Aged Care workplaces.
Increasing Minutes of Care
Scalable & Efficient onboarding & orientation of staff to deliver safe & highly effective service
Aged Care facilities will need to adapt recruitment and onboarding practices to significantly scale personnel and help ensure their agility to routinely orientate new staff to meet regulations surrounding minutes of care. Delivering this capacity whilst verifying skills and delivering engaging + immersive training to ensure new hires are ready to provide the high quality of care required, will be fundamental.
This Aged Care Royal Commission Report and the ensuing Federal Budget will inevitably bring a wave of regulation and change to the industry. Amidst this change – operators face the need to create an inducted, assessed, competent and ready to work workforce, with compliance and actionable insights to govern.
TUTIS_CARE is a cloud-based workforce capability and skills compliance software solution for the Aged Care industry. It helps manage compliance risk, reduces complexity (paperless), optimises running costs and enhances efficient workplace sustainability.
Contact us today if you are interested in safely navigating the regulatory changes ahead and learning more about TUTIS_CARE.
Reference: https://agedcare.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/final-report-volume-1