OPINION
PREPARING FOR CHANGE
COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPARENCY ARE VITAL Janet Anderson PSM Commissioner, Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
T
he global COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced for everyone in the aged care sector the importance of communication and transparency. Those receiving aged care and their family members have a right and need to know important information about their aged care provider. Learning Providers taking proactive steps to increase the amount and quality of information available about their services will not only help current consumers, but also enable potential consumers to improve their knowledge
I
The B
as
istm G Chr
Join us for our Big Christmas Sing-a-Long and create a Christmas to remember. Proudly brought to you by
10
and understanding of particular services to inform their decision making. The Commission also has a role in improving transparency across the sector, and several initiatives are particularly relevant here. A significant reform introduced this year relates to the increased information now available through the ‘Find a Provider’ tool on the My Aged Care website. Details of each provider on My Aged Care now include a service compliance rating. If a service has no current noncompliance, then it has a 4-dot rating. If it has non-compliance with any of the Special guest host Narelda Jacobs
Hosted by Narelda Jacobs, we have a huge line up of hit artists including Johnny Young, Ernie Dingo, Normie Rowe, Kamahl, Phil Walleystack and many more.
www.bigchristmassingalong.com.au
requirements of the Aged Care Quality Standards, and nothing more severe, then it will be 3 dots. If there is a current non-compliance notice, or ‘NCN’, and nothing more severe, then it will be 2 dots. If there is a current sanction or notice to agree or ‘NTA’ in place, then it will be one dot. The historical compliance rating is also displayed on the site to give consumers a better understanding of how the provider has been tracking from a compliance perspective, which can be an important factor when deciding on, and choosing, a provider. As well as compliance information, the tool includes information on a provider’s performance against the Aged Care Quality Standards. Each of the Quality Standards has a bar rating that indicates whether the provider has met/not met the requirements. Information on each Standard is provided to give consumers a rounded understanding of the requirements. A key aim of this information is to empower consumers and their families to make informed choices about the older person’s care, and to support them to choose a provider that meets their needs and is right for them. Alongside this increased transparency via the My Aged Care website, the Commission is now publishing all decisions of non-compliance relating to providers of residential aged care and