Only organisations wishing to start offering aged care services are required to register by 1 July, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has reiterated to providers at a webinar this week – existing providers will be contacted directly regarding their deemed category in April.
The commission also reiterated the difference between provider registration and the proposed worker registration scheme, meaning allied health practitioners do not need to register as a provider if contracted by a registered provider.
Many registered attendees – including Australian Ageing Agenda – had trouble accessing the webinar so a fewer variety of questions may have been asked during the Q&A session.
The webinar on 18 March titled Bringing the strengthened Quality Standards to life explored:
- differences between the new strengthened quality standards and the current Aged Care Quality Standards
- how compliance with the strengthened quality standards will be a condition of registration in the new Act – for providers registered in categories 4-6
- how the commission monitors registered providers’ compliance with their conditions of registration and compliance with the new standards.
The webinar also went into further detail on the new auditing process and grading system.
Acting executive director of the Quality Assessment Monitoring Group Christian Hesse told the webinar that audits are a registration category specific requirement and will be used as a means of proving whether an applicant or registered provider will be able to conform with the quality standards relevant to that registration category.
If a provider is seeking registration or registration renewal in categories 4, 5 or 6 it is always a condition to comply with the strengthened standards – with the audits part of the decision-making process for registration, registration renewal or variation, such as when a provider is looking to add 4, 5 or 6 category services.
The standards that apply to a provider will not be the same for everyone and will depend on the provider’s registration category or categories, Mr Hesse explained.
The basic rules emphasised include:
- if no standards apply, there is no audit
- if you deliver a combination of services an audit will include only those services to which the standards apply
- provider obligations apply to all registration categories
- type B providers – home and community based, category 1, 2, 3 and 4 – may also be audited against outcome 5.1, which only applies to service types of care management or restorative care management.
During an audit, the commission will initially collect evidence about a provider’s governance arrangements, systems and processes.
It will then utilise this information to understand how this is reflected in the delivery of aged care services by the provider. This applies to all residential aged care services for category 6 providers and at a representative sample for categories 4 and 5.
Audits will occur in three stages:
- initiating the audit and obtaining information to understand the provider’s operating context, which will occur through a request for information and an audit initiation meeting
- audit delivery, where the commission will collect and assess evidence, meet with the provider’s governing body to gain an understanding of the governance arrangements, systems and processes and do on-site collection of evidence at the provider’s approved residential care homes
- audit reporting gives the provider a preliminary audit report that details their performance ratings for each outcome and quality standard. Providers will have a chance to review and respond to the report before the final report is prepared
The commission’s audit methodology takes a “no-surprises approach” including sharing preliminary graded assessment outcomes with residential aged care providers before the audit team leaves the site.
There will also be no unannounced visits from the audit team. If risk is identified unannounced visits will be done by a separate monitoring team.
Food and nutrition
The commission is looking for better recognition of the importance of food, drinks and dining experience for older people and their quality of life and wellbeing while in residential aged care, the webinar heard.
Providers can also access the government funded menu and meal time review program via the commission’s website.
The webinar also included a document with links to relevant resources for providers, including the sector readiness plan which the commission encouraged providers to regularly check to stay up to date.
The links to resources provided in the webinar can be found here.
For those who were unable to access the webinar yesterday, a recording is already available:
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