Janet Anderson PSM Commissioner for Aged Care Quality and Safety, states in the report Complaints about aged care home services – Insights for people receiving services (July – December 23) ‘Every person receiving aged care in Australia has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. They have the right to make choices, to be free from harm and to have confidence that their safety and the quality of their care is assured’. The report aims to assist older people to understand about what they can expect from a home care provider and how to raise a concern or complaint if they need to do so.
The initial section of this report provides a comprehensive view of home services, highlighting the Commission’s duties, service user rights, and what to expect. It also explores the grievances that the Commission deals with and common issues in home services. Transitioning to the next section, it explains seeking help, addressing concerns, and how the Commission handles complaints. The report underscores the importance of Quality Standards and Charter under the current Aged Care Act in setting standards for quality and safety of aged care for seniors and their caregivers. The upcoming rights-focused Aged Care Act will bring about improved Quality Standards with a similar goal.
What high quality care looks like from a service user perspective
Everyone is entitled to dignity and respect while receiving aged care services. The Quality Standards outline the expectations for quality care. Recipients of Commonwealth-funded home services, should be able to affirm the following statements under the Quality Standards:
- I am treated with dignity and respect and can maintain my identity. I can make informed choices about my care and services and live the life I choose
- I am a partner in ongoing assessment and planning that helps me get the care and services I need for my health and wellbeing
- I get personal, clinical, or both personal and clinical care, that is safe and right for me
- I get the services and supports for daily living that are important for my health and wellbeing and that enable me to do the things I want to do
- I feel I belong and I am safe and comfortable in the organisation’s service environment
- I feel safe, encouraged and supported to give feedback and make complaints. I am engaged in processes to address my feedback and complaints, and appropriate action is taken
- I get quality care and services when I need them from people who are knowledgeable, capable and caring
- I am confident the organisation is well run. I can partner in improving the delivery of care and services
CareLineLive: The all-in-one home care management system that meets the needs of service users
If you’re already enjoying the features that CareLineLive offers you will be able to identify the features that will help you meet both the expectations of people using services and regulatory compliance.
If not, let’s take a look at how the system will support service providers to deliver high quality, person-centred care that meets the Quality Standards and service user expectations listed above:
Person-centred care
- I am treated with dignity and respect and can maintain my identity. I can make informed choices about my care and services and live the life I choose.
- I am a partner in ongoing assessment and planning that helps me get the care and services I need for my health and wellbeing
- I get personal, clinical, or both personal and clinical care, that is safe and right for me.
- I get the services and supports for daily living that are important for my health and wellbeing and that enable me to do the things I want to do.
- I get quality care and services when I need them from people who are knowledgeable, capable and caring
CareLineLive simplifies rostering procedures by offering instant access to client and carer details, thereby improving safeguarding with visit verification. This results in better scheduling efficiency and heightened productivity for carers.
Care planning has been made incredibly simple with the user-friendly assessment feature. This feature provides sixteen assessments designed to cater to the specific needs of service users, empowering caregivers to deliver exceptional care. The assessments cover various aspects of daily life, such as About Me, Personal Care, Mobility, Moving and Handling, Social and Emotional Well-being, and Nutrition and Hydration. They enable the documentation of individual characteristics and vital details. Moreover, standard assessments like the Waterlow Score, Braden Scale, MUST, and MST are readily accessible. You also have the flexibility to create customised forms tailored to your service’s requirements, all conveniently available at your fingertips!
Care visit information is digitised to include attendance times, task management, eMAR visit notes, health observations, concerns, and incident notes. The task management feature seamlessly integrates with the Carer Companion Mobile App, allowing managers to assign personalised and detailed tasks tailored to each individual. Caregivers, on the other hand, can monitor various aspects such as nutrition, hydration, blood pressure, bowel movements, and catheter care. Any concerns or incidents can be promptly reported through the app, enabling real-time communication with managers to prioritise safety consistently.
Keeping people safe and giving them a voice
- I feel I belong and I am safe and comfortable in the organisation’s service environment
- I feel safe, encouraged and supported to give feedback and make complaints. I am engaged in processes to address my feedback and complaints, and appropriate action is taken
Communication is everything, and particularly important for people living in their own homes where that can be at risk of isolation. CareLineLive’s features certainly give providers every opportunity to gather feedback and to address complaints, concerns and incidents.
Providers can work proactively by using the review feature which can be utilised to give timely prompts to review care packages, interact with service users and to gain feedback from service users, therefore prioritising safety, health and wellbeing.
Importantly, complaints, concerns, and incidents can be easily reported through the Carer Companion mobile app. This information directly integrates into the Concern and Incident reporting feature, offering comprehensive data collection, problem and issue management, and resolution data. Furthermore, managers can assess their handling of complaints and incidents, sharing the outcomes with service users. This valuable data serves as evidence for regulatory purposes.
Evidencing your service
- I am confident the organisation is well run. I can partner in improving the delivery of care and services
CareLineLive’s reporting feature simplifies the process of providing evidence for compliance and government regulations. This feature enables real-time report generation offering valuable data and insights. It not only aids in predicting and preventing issues but also enhances crucial business efficiencies and advancements. By accessing multiple reports across various business areas, you can refine processes and ensure compliance, spanning from financial data to carer utilisation.
Leveraging our reports empowers you to collect essential data that drives business expansion, streamlines operations, elevates care standards, boosts career satisfaction, and attains higher levels of compliance. The real-time insights and user-friendly data presentation foster improved management and elevated care quality.
The Care Circle Portal emphasises honesty and transparency, ensuring that service users feel confident knowing that their information and service delivery notes are available to those who are truly significant to them. This includes essential stakeholders like healthcare and social care professionals, as well as emergency services, who can retrieve crucial information round the clock.
To find out how you can comprehensively meet the needs of people using your service contact us today for a free, no obligation demo.
