Letter to the Editor - Courier Mail re Aged care system sick

The following letter was sent to the Courier Mail in Qld in response to an article appearing on 5 June 2007.

Dear Editor

Tanya Chilcott in 'Aged care system sick' (5 June 2007) chose to focus on unsubstantiated claims of aged care 'critics' and ignore the evidence we provided that shows Australia has a comprehensive and robust aged care accreditation system.

The Agency's work program involves around 6,000 visits to homes this year. Over a three-year period, each home can expect to receive at least three unannounced visits, plus a complete site audit against all 44 expected outcomes to the Accreditation Standards. A number will receive more visits.

Where we identify a home that has non-compliance, we impose a timetable for improvement (TFI) and make regular visits to monitor improvements in care. We can shorten a home's existing period of accreditation, or issue only a relatively short period of accreditation so the home will be subject to another complete site audit in a relatively short period of time. Where we have identified 'serious risk' at a home, we visit daily until the serious risk is mitigated.

We use a case management approach to monitoring of homes, with case management committees in each state and nationally, meeting weekly to consider our monitoring program and to review the progress of homes with non-compliance. In Queensland, from 1 July 2006 to 30 April 2007, of around 500 homes, we have conducted 246 full site audits, plus 901 monitoring visits (support contacts). Every home in Queensland will have received at least one unannounced visit in the twelve months to 30 June 2007.

We make available via our website the most recent results of all complete site audits and review audits, as well as the assessment team's report and recommendations. We will post a compliance update after a home addresses its non-compliance, but the original report remains on the website until it is replaced with a subsequent full audit report.

Archived reports are available to anyone who asks - you just have to ring or email for copies. We encourage consumers to not just read a home's report, but to also visit homes and ask questions about the care and services provided.

When conducting audits and monitoring visits, our assessors corroborate information and cross-reference written documentation using a process known as triangulation - observing the practices of the home, talking to at least ten per cent of residents or their relatives, interviewing staff and management, and examining care documentation and records of the home. The numbers of residents and staff interviewed, documentation examined and outcomes reviewed is included in each report on the website. An audit can take anything from two to five days, and usually involves a team of two or three assessors, and sometimes more.

Residents and relatives are interviewed privately and confidentially. Any report that is made public must have removed from it any information that could identify a resident.

The Department of Health and Ageing and the Aged Care Commissioner manage a complaints investigation scheme to which complaints about care can be directed. Complainants may request that their information be treated in confidence. The Australian Government has also recently introduced whistleblower protection legislation.

All of the above information was provided to Ms Chilcott. Regrettably, she chose not to report it.

Chris Falvey
General Manager Corporate Affairs
Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency Ltd

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