Support contacts overview
What is a support contact?
A support contact is usually a shorter visit than an accreditation site audit or review audit, and looks at a smaller sample of the residential aged care home’s systems.
A support contact is a visit to a residential aged care home to:
- monitor the residential aged care home’s compliance with the Accreditation Standards including the care and services provided to residents
- supervise and assist a residential aged care home to undertake continuous improvement
- monitor a residential aged care home’s progress in resolving non-compliance
- identify whether there is a need for a review audit
- provide additional information or training for the residential aged care home.
In order to monitor the level of care and service provided to residents, every residential aged care home receives at least one unannounced visit each year, which is generally a support contact (in some cases it may be a review audit).
How often are support contacts carried out?
The form and frequency of support contacts to residential aged care homes is decided on a case-by-case basis depending on the level and frequency of supervision required to ensure residents receive appropriate care and services. Residential aged care homes with non-compliance or with a past history of non-compliance may be visited more frequently than residential aged care homes with a record of consistent high performance.
What happens on site?
During a support contact, aged care assessors visit a residential aged care home and speak with staff, management, residents and their families, to determine whether the residential aged care home meets all the Accreditation Standards and expected outcomes. The team is usually on site for one day.
How are residents and representatives involved?
Interviewing residents and their representatives is an essential part of information gathering about a residential aged care home. It is important that residents and their representatives are able to participate and can express their views concerning the care and services delivered by the residential aged care home.
Although the team is not required to interview a minimum number of residents or representatives during support contacts, they generally interview at least 10% of residents or their representatives. Residents and their representatives may also provide written information to the team if they wish.
If the residential aged care home has a number of residents who do not speak English, the team may organise an interpreter.
The residential aged care home ensures those residents or their representatives who wish to speak to the assessment team can do so in private and are assured of confidentiality.
The decision making process
The assessment team writes a report which contains recommendations only. A decision as to the home's actual compliance is made separately by an independent decision-maker.
What does the decision include?
The decision includes information on whether the residential aged care home’s support contact arrangements need to be varied and whether a review audit is necessary. The support contact decision also includes information about areas the residential aged care home needs to improve in order to achieve compliance with the Accreditation Standards.
What information is publicly available?
Decisions about support contacts and the assessment team’s support contact record are not publicly available. However, if a residential aged care home becomes compliant as a result of a support contact decision, or if a residential aged care home does not remedy non-compliance within the set timeframe, an update to the residential aged care home’s existing audit report is published on the front page of the residential aged care home’s most recent report. Click here to access reports on homes.
What other information is available about support contacts?
Click here for more information about support contacts.
