Responding to a team's report
What is a response to a team’s report?
A response to a team’s report, also known as a submission, is a collation of information which may indicate:
- reasons why information in the report is inaccurate or incomplete
- actions conducted since the team’s visit to remedy negative issues
- actions planned to remedy negative issues.
Approved providers, on behalf of residential aged care homes, are invited to submit responses to the major findings at the end of accreditation site audits and review audits. The major findings are provided to residential aged care homes in the form a written report.
Where non-compliance is being considered by a decision-maker as a result of a support contact, an approved provider may also be contacted by the decision-maker and invited to submit a response.
Timeframes apply to submissions. These are specified in reports and other correspondence from us.
Who can respond to a team’s report?
An approved provider, on behalf of a residential aged care home, can make a submission in response to the major findings of a visit.
Does the ability to submit a report mean the team might have gotten it wrong?
Sometimes when teams are on site, residential aged care homes may not have all of the information available. This may be because some information is off-site, or because staff at the residential aged care home have forgotten to show or tell the team something. This information may, in some cases, strongly assist the residential aged care home in demonstrating compliance.
Although assessors are trained to ensure accurate assessments, on rare occasions, assessors may also misinterpret information. This may be because of miscommunication, or because of a lack of available information. Responding to a team’s report therefore provides opportunity to rectify misinterpretation.
Does submitting a response mean the residential aged care home will receive retribution?
We actively encourage feedback.
A submission gives the decision-maker increased confidence that the issues have been, or are being managed, and therefore contributes positively to the decision.
If you have any concerns about the submission, you should contact the State Manager in your local Agency office. If you have concerns you will receive retribution, you should raise your concerns with us as soon as possible.
Will submitting a response really make a difference?
Submitting a response gives the decision-maker confidence negative issues are being managed to ensure continuing care for residents. It also provides confidence that any non-compliance will be rectified quickly and in a planned manner to prevent recurrence.
Responses from approved providers form a major reason why a decision-maker may disagree with a team’s recommendations regarding non-compliance. They may also impact on the period of accreditation granted, and the form and frequency of support contacts.
What should be included in a response?
Information should be compiled in an objective manner. That is, it should provide a logical argument about how the residential aged care home complies with the Accreditation Standards, or what actions are occurring to ensure compliance is achieved in the quickest possible time to ensure adequate and sustainable care for residents.
While each issue identified in the report should be addressed, the submission should also include information on:
- how the overall system has been remedied or works to ensure adequate and sustainable care and services to residents
- how theresidential aged care home has communicated any necessary changes to staff and residents
- what systems have been put in place to monitor compliance with the expected outcome, and prevent recurrence of the issue.
The decision-maker is most interested in receiving information on how the system is now working to provide adequate care and services to residents. Such information should therefore include a description of the system and any changes (including dates), and supporting information such as copies of calendars, tools, memoranda, etc.
Some improvements require extensive planning. For this reason, where not all actions have been put in place, including evaluation processes, approved providers should provide information on progress made, and an improvement plan for future actions. Such a plan should be broken down into smaller actions to remedy an overall issue and contain:
- details on each action
- intended result of each action
- person responsible (to reflect adequate resourcing)
- clear dates for each individual action
- any additional relevant comments.
The dates for planned actions should be reasonable. This means prioritising improvements, and ensuring actions occur in a prompt manner to remedy areas of poor care and services to residents as soon as possible. However, setting unachievable goals should also be avoided.
Please be aware that providing false or misleading information is a serious offence under the Criminal Codes Act 1995.
Should responses only include information on non-compliant expected outcomes?
Because the team only makes recommendations about compliance and non-compliance, a decision-maker may consider other information in a report, and decide on additional non-compliance. Issues may also give further weight to recommended non-compliance.
Approved providers should therefore consider all information provided in reports. This also reflects the approved provider’s approach to using all available information about the residential aged care home to pursue continuous improvement of care for residents.
How do I make a response?
Information on how to make a response is provided to approved providers either in the reports (‘assessment information’) or in writing by a decision-maker.
Where can I get more information?
Information on some of the considerations for ensuring compliance with the Accreditation Standards is found in our Results and processes guide.
A plan for continuous improvement can also be altered to provide all of the necessary information required in an improvement plan. For more information on plans for continuous improvement, refer to continuous improvement.
