Brightwater Buzz Edition 1 (Staff Newsletter)

EDITION

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CEO Reflects

Staff Profile

Allied Health Spotlight

CEO Cath Stoddart chats about how she is settling in and her priorities for coming months on page 2.

Peter Holder is retiring after 44 years. He shares some great memories and lessons learned on page 10.

Find out how Brightwater’s unique consultancy service delivers agile and effective allied health across our Residential Aged Care sites on page 14.

IT transformation underway Lego is inspiring an exciting strategy which aims to ‘transform’, ‘regenerate’ and ‘innovate’ Information Technology at Brightwater.

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Brightwater Buzz

What’s the

Proud CEO reflects on first months at Brightwater It has been four months since we welcomed CEO Catherine Stoddart to Brightwater and she has hit the ground running.

You may have noticed that this edition of our quarterly staff newsletter (previously called Ripples) is a bit different.

We sat down with Cath to have a chat and to learn about her priorities for the months ahead.

We have given it a fresh look and new name – suggested by our staff – to better reflect what this publication means to you!

How are you settling in at Brightwater?

All staff were invited to enter a competition to rename Ripples and we were thrilled to receive more than 50 ideas. Well done to the winner, Leanne Went, from Brightwater Catering Services in Malaga.

Leanne joined Brightwater as an Administration Assistant in March this year and has enjoyed the opportunity to work across our commercial sites and utilise the skills she has gained throughout her career.

She suggested the Brightwater Buzz because she thought it was a unique and catchy way to describe Brightwater, always buzzing with activity!

In other news, learn how we are welcoming a new era of agility, flexibility and collaboration at Brightwater Central on page 8; we share the results of the inaugural Brightwater at Home Biannual Client Phone Survey on page 12; and I’m thrilled to tell the stories behind the latest quarterly Spirit Award recipients on page 16.

We know people love hearing the buzz around the place and hope you enjoy Edition 1!

So far it has been busy and heart-warming – a great mix of settling in and learning about each facet of Brightwater.

I’m incredibly proud to be your CEO. I have visited every site and every service and I want to take the opportunity to thank people for being so welcoming; for being prepared to share their day with me; and for offering suggestions. Sometimes they’re not necessarily the ones you want to hear, but the ones I need to hear. Please keep sharing your feedback with us.

I plan to keep on coming out to visit you as much as I can – I am calling it ‘Free range Fridays’! So please make sure you stop and say hello next time I am at your site.

I’ve also experienced a touch of nostalgia. The past few months have really taken me back. Some of you may not know this, but I have worked in aged care before. This included working at Brightwater sites as an agency nurse. It has been lovely to recall some of those memories.

What is your focus for the new financial year?

The information I have gathered – and the people I have met – have allowed me to really consider what my priorities are.

At the heart of it, Brightwater has a fantastic name thanks to the people that work day-to-day within aged care, home care and disability services.

We are in a period where we need to really consolidate so we can continue to be a great organisation. Workforce is our single biggest risk as there are not enough people out there. It’s not that we’re not trying everything we could possibly think of, but we need great staff to provide great care.

Catherine Stoddart

People’s lifestyle choices post Covid-19, and the nature of what people are expecting and what we are expected to do in terms of quality and safety mean we just don’t have enough staff.

CEO

Brightwater Care Group

While this is a challenging, it doesn’t mean we don’t have solutions.

Brightwater Buzz

What it means is that we must think carefully about the jobs you do. We need to rethink where we can find efficiencies and make better use of your skills and time doing other tasks.

But it’s also really exciting as it means we are going to have to think about providing more supportive training and education and incentives to stay in the organisation.

The Executive Team and I are thinking about how we reshape those things.

We are considering how we may be able to create different roles and how we can relieve the burden on the things that we can change.

You’ve offered lots of solutions so far and we are listening.

Thank you to everyone who has sent in suggestions via the Ask your CEO call out and responded to our recent staff retention survey. I welcome your feedback so please keep sharing it with us.

Retention has been a pressing issue for the sector and it sounds like it is no different for us here at Brightwater, what are the next steps to address this for you?

Retention is the number one thing for us to focus on right now. We want to consider how we can give you the career you want.

It so important to retain the people we have. To ask you to do extra hours if you want to do them. And to make it worth your while to do it.

We also want you to feel you can stay at Brightwater. And that’s a big challenge.

We are also employing a Senior Project Manager who will focus on recruitment for retention. This person will work directly with me and Deva North, our Chief of People and Culture, and her team. I look forward to telling you more about this exciting new role.

What are the other key priorities you see for Brightwater over the coming year?

The staff that we have are our most fundamental asset. And the research shows that quality and safety have the biggest impact on our clients.

As such I want to stay focussed on growing a very strong reputation and thinking about quality and safety.

Our reputation is innately tied to the quality of our service and the care we provide. Feedback from the Royal Commission highlighted some key areas we need to improve in as an industry. For Brightwater we also have some areas of improvement and we need to provide the right supports for our team to be able to work on those.

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I want to take the opportunity to say that I know that you, our staff, come in to work to do the best job you can do. And sometimes mistakes happen.

As an organisation, we need to recognise that it is about learning, not about being punitive. And that’s a big lesson and a big change.

For me, it is vital because otherwise you won’t tell us when things go wrong. And I want to know. I want you to speak up and be courageous.

Do this when you see something that doesn’t work; where you see an incident that you would like to report; when you see interactions between each other that aren’t how we should behave. I want to hear about these things.

As well as stabilising and growing our workforce, our other three key priorities are: • Providing safe and quality care, consistently; • Rolling out the digital transformation and ensuring that core technology and systems support our business; • Long-term sustainability to ensure we are here for another 120 years.

We will continue to share more information with you in future editions.

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Brightwater Buzz

transformation to regenerate systems one app at a time

Brightwater Buzz

There’s a saying about Lego that goes, ‘build what you want to build, brick by brick’.

This concept, and a quote from the filmmaker/producer behind The Lego Movie: “With a bucket of Lego, you can tell any story… ” are inspiring an exciting IT transformation at Brightwater.

From wide area network improvements at every site for more stable access; to Microsoft Office 365 (0365) upgrades for all laptops and PCs; and plans to test apps that work with equipment which monitors the health of clients, the transformation is underway.

Manager Technology Services Martin Roberts said the changes would help everybody work better from anywhere, and with any device.

“The overall goal of the Technology and Digital Strategy (Regeneration 2022 to 2026) is to transform the technology within the Brightwater Group into an agile, adaptive system in partnership with all staff,” he said.

“Everyone at Brightwater will ultimately have access to an integrated suite of best-in class devices, tools, applications, storage, communication, collaboration, and management system.

“It will not only enhance staff productivity by enabling you to do the things you are good at, for example clinical work rather than lots of admin, but will also simplify and improve the services we provide.”

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“Our current underlying technology is based on a 20 plus year old model before smartphones and iPads,” Martin adds.

“At the moment we have a lot of manual processes, and we could call some of our systems 1950s Lego.

“ We’re turning it into the 21st century Lego which will deliver a seamless integrated customer service, with improvements in staff effectiveness and clinical outcomes.”

The process of evolution has seen the team welcome PMO Lead Elka Lilley earlier this year, introduce an improved service desk experience and soon they will have two new staff to work in applications.

Elka said that the first group of projects in the ‘transform’ stage focused on improving functional technology such as infrastructure and networks.

“We want to bring everyone along on the journey during the delivery of each project,” she said.

“This includes implementing the systems and working with Managers to arrange training that staff may need and getting feedback on how well a system is working.”

The strategy has three stages: ‘transform’, ‘regenerate’ and ‘innovate’ with the new IT environment to include small, interchangeable Microsoft Power Apps, a bit like Lego bricks.

Martin said the Apps, which are constantly being refined by Microsoft, could be assembled in agile clusters to best meet Brightwater’s requirements.

“As all Apps will be joined within a single ecosystem and data platform over time, they will use the one source of truth so that every App, and each user, will view the same information,” he said.

“When data is added or changed in one part of the ecosystem, it is carried over to all parts.”

Technology is evolving rapidly, and the IT team is committed to staying ahead of the curve.

Office 365 applications and services Most Brightwater staff are already familiar with the standard Microsoft Office applications including Word and Excel.

The Microsoft 365 Office platforms will be rolled out to staff in phases by the end of this year with training and assistance to be offered at every step.

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Brightwater Buzz

In the new 365 ecosystem, the Microsoft Power Apps will become the primary entry point for other information zones.

The multiple versions of Office in use will be migrated to Office 365, with Microsoft Teams becoming the front and centre App. Microsoft Teams is already one of Brightwater’s main forms of communication and collaboration with voice, video calls, plus text conversations.

It will be expanded to include tasks and projects and connections to all associated documents and files.

In the 365 platform, every user will receive 1TB of personal file storage in their OneDrive, which is integrated with SharePoint, Brightwater’s record management system.

Staff will be able to access these files from anywhere, on any device without a VPN tunnel.

Regeneration Projects EXPAND OUR USE OF MS TEAMS UPGRADE TO O365

MOVE EMAIL TO EXCHANGE ONLINE

UPGRADE OUR NETWORK (WAN)

MOVE TO CLOUD (internet based systems)

REFRESH BRIGHTWATER WEBSITE USER TRAINING

REFRESH BRIGHTWATER INTRANET SITE USE 365 POWER APPS FOR AUTOMATED REPORTING

USE 365 DYNAMICS CRM AND ERP APPS

IMPROVE PROCESSES

MOVE TO A CLOUD-BASED TELEPHONE SYSTEM

FIELD AND CLINICAL SERVICES APPS

EXPLORE THE INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT)

REVIEWING OUR ROSTER SYSTEM

REVIEW OUR HARDWARE

EXPLORE CROSS SITE DIGITAL SIGNAGE

Microsoft Go 3 trial underway Everyone in Brightwater’s mobile workforce will receive a device over the next 12 to 18 months.

Around 500 are being introduced to Brightwater at Home staff in the next six months.

“At the moment, when our mobile workforce tries to work from the phone and a PC screen, where they can access one, it can be difficult,” Martin said.

“We are trailing a Microsoft Go 3 device which is similar to an iPad but runs on Windows. We will keep you posted on the outcomes of the trial.”

Never change your password again…

From December 2022, prompts to change our passwords every 90 days will be behind us.

Martin explains: “All we are going to ask you to do is to have a longer password which meets a reasonably complex standard. If you do forget it, there will be online services to help you change it, similar to when you are dealing with a bank or any other company.”

Cutting edge technology to monitor client health and wellbeing Another exciting aspect of the strategy is a move towards using devices that monitor our clients to improve clinical outcomes (during the innovate stage).

A three-month pilot focusing on 16 rooms in a single house – and working with an industry partner such as Microsoft – is being considered for Brightwater Inglewood.

Brightwater Buzz

Measuring change in the health, wellbeing and quality of life of residential aged care clients An innovative study by Brightwater’s Research Centre aims to track changes in the health, wellbeing and quality of life of residential aged care clients and see if the changes are directly attributable to the care, clinical or therapy services delivered by us.

Project Lead, Rebecca Walton said the study was important as “in determining the impact of care we are able to tailor individual care and overall services.”

The Brightwater Outcomes In Aged Care study commenced in 2021 and has examined international literature, surveyed staff, clients and their families and identified the meaning of health, wellbeing and quality-of-life for Brightwater.

According to Rebecca, tracking quality of life measures is not routinely done in the aged care sector.

“It aligns with recommendations by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety which highlighted the importance of high-quality data and measures for person-centred care,” Rebecca said.

Evidence-based outcomes measures are tools our nurses and allied health staff use to track how people are going in their day-to-day life, and longer term.

“We know that Brightwater’s residential aged care sites do amazing work and provide an exceptional level of care, but we don’t always capture it,” Rebecca said.

The program of research involves four stages with the first two stages complete – informing the reduction in the number of assessment forms and recommendation of meaningful measures.

“We want to provide outcome measures that are easy to interpret; can be used by different staff at the sites; and improve and guide the interventions that are undertaken with our residents.”

Consultation with staff, clients and families has been vital so far and the team.

This will continue in stages 3 and 4 of the study where the Research Centre will work with Brightwater business and clinical areas to implement the outcome measures and evaluate the effect of programs and services on client overall health, wellbeing and quality of life.

The study should be completed by mid-2023 and we look forward to keeping you updated!

Outcome measures are used at repeated time-points to detect change in the health outcome of an individual, group of people, or population that is attributable to an intervention or series of interventions.

An assessment tool is used at a single time-point to capture the action or instance of making a judgement about something or someone.

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Brightwater Buzz

Just a few steps from main entrance to the Village Link you’ll find the joint reception for Residential Aged Care and Corporate Services.

Deva said one of the main aims of the Brightwater Central project was to bring corporate staff closer to our core businesses.

Celebrating Brightwater Central – our new hub for staff After five years in the making, Brightwater Central has sprung to life, welcoming a new era of agility, flexibility and collaboration for staff and clients.

The vibrant Village Link space – where you can grab a coffee or snack from the café to enjoy while you work or attend training; or wander past the hair and nail salon or interact with residents and their families – is the heart of this stunning building.

Central training hub Training spaces are also front and centre as Chief People and Culture Officer Deva North explains: “Every staff member will come to Brightwater Central to be welcomed to Brightwater and complete their induction training.

“Trainers will still be mobile, completing coaching at sites, but all of our core training will be run out of Brightwater Central. We want this to place a shared education space, where all staff can use the facilities.”

Project Manager Inglewood Commissioning Curtis Reddell said centralised training was one of the things he was most excited about at the Brightwater Central campus.

“It will be a more efficient and seamless training experience,” he said. “There are two purpose-built training rooms, including a manual task room and one that is more agile to deliver a range of face-to-face training workshops.”

Additionally, in the Village Link, there is a large multi-purpose room that will host recruitment assessment centres, research symposiums or small conferences.

“The move will enable more corporate staff to engage with our Mission, while also ensuring more operations staff can build relationships with staff providing corporate services, breaking down silos across the organisation.”

Curtis added as staff undertake different tasks and activities each day at work, the new Brightwater Central offices have been designed so staff can choose a space that works for them on any given day.

“This includes lots of open area collaboration zones where staff can collaborate, problem-solve and brainstorm with other team members. These areas have AV tech to help further facilitate collaboration.”

“For more formal or traditional meetings, we’ve got bookable rooms with full AV and video conferencing. There are also Focus Rooms if your work requires concentration or privacy.”

“And if you are only dropping into the office for an hour between site visits, a touch down zone will support you to get a few emails done. These are great spaces for all staff from across the business to use and enjoy.”

The Integrated Health Hub is targeted toward client facing staff.

“Whether it’s Care Workers who have brought clients to Brightwater Central to go to the gym; therapists working for RAC, BAH or CBT or Nurse Practitioners that might be on site doing vaccinations,

Brightwater Buzz

it has been set up for staff who aren’t always based at Inglewood,” Curtis said.

“It will drive evidence-based practice and allow them to have those valuable conversations such as when you’re trying to solve problems together as clinicians.”

Neighbourhoods and hot desks in every wing “The whole building follows the principles of agile working,” Curtis said. “The Brightwater Central offices are an agile working environment. They are designed to encourage staff to move around and collaborate as need and break down silos across the business.

“Workstations are based on a neighbourhood approach.

If you’re doing your more standard work, for example in front of a computer, you will primarily hot desk within your neighbourhood.

“If you can’t find a workspace in your neighbourhood, or you need to work alongside a colleague in a different team, we absolutely encourage you to take the opportunity to sit within another neighbourhood.

“We want staff from across the organisation to use the workstations if they are visiting Brightwater Central. The diversity of thought within Brightwater Central offices is going to be great.”

Flexible work spaces at a glance Brightwater Central is a truly flexible working space, enabling quiet spaces to work, collaboration zones and workstations. There are also: • 12 purpose-built meeting rooms (on the ground floor) that staff can book, as well as two bespoke training rooms • 5 Focus Rooms • 17 additional open spaces for collaboration, four of which are purpose built with AV functionality.

• The western courtyard, staff hub or link space are also available for ad hoc meetings and collaboration sessions.

• Free parking with over 200 spaces for staff and visitors • 231 secure lockers in the corporate office to support agile working and enhance your working environment • A staff gym, showers and change rooms • A bike cage

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Connection to Country Brightwater Central is set in a beautiful location and was designed to encourage staff, clients and visitors to engage with the natural surrounds.

Ground floor meeting rooms have also been named to acknowledge that we are working and providing care on Whadjuk Nyungar land.

Names include: • Djidi Djidi (Nyungar pronunciation Chitty + Chitty) which translates to Willy Wagtail • Mandone (Man + Den) which translates to Woody Bush • Warrnt (war + rant) which translates to White Gum Tree • Wallang (wall + ang) which translates to Swallow The names were chosen by Marie Taylor, an Aboriginal Nyungar elder from the Wadjuk Ballardong Nyungar yued people.

Marie named the rooms based on her story of the country where Brightwater Central lies saying: “When visiting Brightwater site, I could not see any birds flying around. But, we found this Djert – bird on the road.

We collected the feathers from the noitj djert and decided that ta-kil the Nyungar word for feathers would be used in the naming of the entrance area.”

The Karrung Nododji room [KAR-REN NOD-ITCHY] Brightwater is committed to your health and wellbeing and has introduced a dedicated wellbeing room in the office, named Karrung Nododji, which translates to ‘quietly come in peace’.

The Karrung Nododji room is a space where you can take some time out for your wellbeing or personal needs during your working day and engage in activities such as mindfulness, or spiritual and religious activities, or even lactation breaks to express milk or simply for some quiet time.

You do not need to book the Karrung Nododji room, and it is available on an as-needed and first-come basis.

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Where is your hometown?

I have always lived in Perth. I grew up in Yokine which is very close to the Inglewood site. As a youngster, where The Village is located now, that used to be a swamp and as kids we would play there. We would make canoes and float them. How we never got bitten by tiger snakes is amazing!

All these years later, here I am back at Inglewood on the same spot, now working on a state-of-the-art building which will be home to a lot of people.

What was your first role at Brightwater?

Brightwater journey comes full circle for Peter Holder Name: Peter Holder Role: Strategic Property Projects Lead Length of service: 44 years (since May 1978)

Strategic Property Projects Lead Peter Holder is retiring in late August after an incredible 44 years at Brightwater.

We spoke to Peter about his exemplary Brightwater journey as he reflected on memorable moments and lessons learned and offered some sage advice.

I started off as a mechanical fitter at Homes of Peace Subiaco in 1978 and then I was transferred to Inglewood as the maintenance officer. I was encouraged by my manager at the time to study for a diploma in Mechanical Engineering and that’s when I really fell in love with buildings and the benefits of how a well- designed and maintained building supports the people who live and work in them.

I was at Inglewood a couple of years and then was promoted to the role Manager Physical Resources, managing the maintenance over both properties (in Subiaco and Inglewood). At that time, we had a lot of in-house trades including painters, carpenters, fitters, electricians etc. But the role now is managing outsourced contractors.

I was the first person at Brightwater with a mobile phone because I was required to be on call. It was huge compared to today’s phones! And I was one of the first to have had a PC sitting on my desk, which was a unique at the time, but it had a very important function controlling the heating plant and air conditioning equipment across the whole Inglewood site. This was leading edge technology for its time and since then I’ve always been an advocate for the use of technology to provide safe and comfortable environments.

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Could you briefly describe your role and responsibilities?

Over the 44 years, it has always been in the maintenance side of the business and then many projects as we redeveloped the old Subiaco and Inglewood sites.

My current role as Strategic Property Projects Lead is the culmination of my experience and building management knowledge, and that’s what I bring to Brightwater’s Inglewood project.

I realised very quickly how the client’s project brief to the consultants for architectural, mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic systems, all the back of house systems, are so critical to get right to ensure the building supports the service delivery and care of the clients in a safe and sustainable way.

What do you love most about your current role?

It’s the excitement of seeing something come together. And making sure that how we influence the design and what we build supports the business – the operations and the care side of the business. And if we get that right, people shouldn’t notice. They should be able to go about providing care for the clients whilst the technology monitoring and controlling the building’s environment works to ensure comfort and safety are maintained.

What is your fondest moment or memory while working at Brightwater?

My favourite memories are of some of the character clients that I have met, especially when we were on the older sites. We had more interaction with the clients then. And there were quite a few characters, Hillary being one of them! Hillary had a loud and happy personality and would always ask after my children, even 30 years

later when I last saw her at the Balcatta site where she lived. There was another guy called the Fonz because he loved that character from Happy Days. These people made your day. Just a simple hello, a bit of a chit chat and you move on.

What’s been your proudest achievement?

I think being here to see the new building at Inglewood and the Brightwater Central campus. For me, it’s where I started from all those years ago, and now that’s where I’ll retire from.

– or the whatever the system may be – will function as intended.

What’s the most inspiring part of your job?

It’s a managerial role. But what I’m delivering or what I’m managing is enabling a safe and comfortable physical environment for the care to happen. That’s what we’re here for.

If I was a superhero, my superpower would be…

To be able leap over tall buildings.

What lessons have you learned, or changes have you seen?

What’s the best holiday destination you’ve ever visited?

I have definitely seen changes in the way that clients are cared for. Where we are now, offering client-centric care is amazing. We used to have a “hospital” care model as the only option (going back quite a few decades) and when delivering the care, it didn’t always match individual need. That was the philosophy of the day.

Santorini. Loved it! And we’d love to go back.

That’s been completely reversed now.

We are here to provide the individual care the client needs to enable them to live out their life in one of our facilities with dignity, feeling safe and secure, and receiving good care.

And I think that’s one of the biggest changes that I’ve noticed over time.

The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is…

Just look after the little things that make a big difference. Make sure that the small critical details are right and then the bigger picture will then be right going forward. It’s not the big bang theory. If I am reviewing project scope and specifications, drawings, and manuals, I look to ensure we have the critical details right, then the build

What’s your least favourite food?

I don’t have a least favourite, I just enjoy all types of food!

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I love woodworking. I have seven grandchildren and I enjoy making toys for them. I am about to start a project for my youngest grandson.

He is turning one and I am going to make him a wooden truck.

Any final words as you retire?

I am excited and looking forward to retirement, however, the realisation of leaving Brightwater after so many years will trigger an emotional response thinking about how much I have enjoyed being part of this great organisation and the many wonderful people I have known during my 44 years of service – I consider it a real privilege.

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Opportunity

to hear true customer voice delivers invaluable feedback

Customer Experience Manager Sarah Green was pleased by the results, with 82 per cent of participants saying overall, they were very satisfied with the services they receive.

“The opportunity to gather a true customer voice and receive some direct feedback has been invaluable,” she said.

“We were able to reach about 80 per cent of BAH clients. It is so important for our at home clients to have a voice, for them to tell us what they like, what we do well at.

“Importantly we want to hear what they don’t like and what we don’t do so well at. It helps us reduce the gap between expectations and what we deliver.”

Around 53 per cent of surveys were completed which is the highest response rate recorded to date.

“Everyone had the chance to have their voice heard, with participants getting the chance to tell us what they like and dislike about BAH.” There is no such thing as a bad comment, according to Sarah as feedback helps Brightwater to continually enhance the experience it can offer clients.

In December 2021 we told you how our Customer Experience team was on a mission to understand our clients’ journeys to learn where we deliver our services well and where we can improve.

In December 2021 we told you how our Customer Experience team was on a mission to understand our clients’ journeys to learn where we deliver our services well and where we can improve.

During April and May this year, the team oversaw the first Brightwater at Home (BAH) Biannual Client Phone Survey.

More than 900 people were invited to answer 30 questions ranging from how happy and satisfied they are to whether they feel they receive value for money. Clients were also asked about choice and dignity.

BAH General Manager Jenni Gamble said Brightwater has had a lot of staff who’ve provided care to the same clients over a long period.

I’m often told that for these staff, it becomes less like a job and more about the relationship,” she said. “Covid has bought some real challenges where it has not always been possible for the same staff to see their clients. They still treat all clients with the same respect.”

In most instances we get it right, Jenni adds.

“However, I am always after feedback on how we can improve. The survey is a wonderful opportunity to let us know how we are performing.”

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The BAH Biannual Client Phone Survey will be repeated in Spring 2022.

Sarah said results from April and May would set the benchmark for future BAH surveys.

It is so important for our at home clients to have a voice “We will be interested to see how different the feedback is in six months,” she added. “We hope to measure how we have implemented any changes suggested during the first survey and to show clients that we are listening.”

While phone surveys worked well for BAH clients, the Customer Experience team will customise survey methods to suit the client. For example, face-to-face surveys are currently underway for Residential Aged Care clients.

“We are rolling out similar surveys across the organisation so we can give all clients a voice on a regular basis,” Sarah added.

At a glance Brightwater at Home Biannual Client Phone Survey results 935 BAH clients surveyed

Participants valued: • Being treated with dignity and respect • Effective communication with visiting staff

Performance 4.3/5 stars

• Friendliness of staff

Performance score is calculated from tagged questions that ask people in our community how we have performed against quality of care, customer service, value for money and management.

Participants would like to see: • More choice regarding the day/time of BAH appointments

82 per cent

• More value for money

82% of respondents were very satisfied. This score shows overall how satisfied residents and family members are.

Sentiment was rated highly at 4.5 This score is calculated from tagged questions which assess how we make people feel or their mood.

• Improved communication about changes to schedule or care needs • Clearer account statements Opportunities to explore: • Improved statement design, including better explanation of charges • Clearer explanation of the service to demonstrate better value for money

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Allied Health Consultancy delivers agile and equitable care

Did you know that Brightwater has a unique consultancy service which delivers agile, equitable and effective allied health across our Residential Aged Care sites?

With an aim to improve client access to our experts, the service allows us to be effective and accountable in what we deliver while adopting an innovative approach to technology and robust screening tools.

When redefining Brightwater’s Allied Health Consultancy Service in 2021, we knew we wanted: • the right professional in front of the client at the right time • to refer clients early • improved client health and wellbeing outcomes • to recruit and retain amazing Allied Health professionals by offering satisfying, progressive roles and opportunities to make a difference to our clients.

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Fast forward to 2022 and the six services – Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Social work, Speech Pathology and The Music Pharmacy – have helped approximately 700 residents during the past year.

Residents are offered five day a week coverage for any of the disciplines required with screening tools (such as the Dysphagia Screening Tool or the Waterlow Pressure Risk Assessment) used by our sites to determine referral need.

Allied Health Manager Andrea King said since introducing the consultancy services, the team had improved response time to requests, which has had a positive flow-on effect for clients.

2022 Don Hutchison & Peter Lane Scholarships

“Our allied health consultancy professionals align to Brightwater’s values, its clinical governance structure as well as the Aged Care Quality Standards and are dedicated to knowing our clients well,” she said.

Telehealth is a key enabler of agile responses. This means, for example, that our Speech Pathologists can complete a full dysphagia assessment using telehealth, as soon as it is needed.

By accessing Social Work early, staff have been able to avert significant issues that may have escalated into complaints, guardianship challenges or financial risk.

Got an idea?

Meanwhile, dietetics input ensures nutrition is front and centre of all care planning and our staff are coached on nutrition.

Applications are now open for the 2022 Don Hutchison and Peter Lane Scholarships to fund research or further learning in an area that will enhance the lives of our clients.

Each of us has professional standard to maintain, Andrea adds.

The combined scholarships are valued up to $25,000.

“If the scope of work exceeds your professional boundary, it is your duty to ensure that a referral is made to someone with a specialist skillset.”

Making a referral is easy. Staff can find disciplinespecific consultation request forms in iCare. Simply follow the prompts included in the referral form.

For more information, speak to the Clinical Nurse Manager or Registered Nurse on roster or contact your Allied Health Team.

Do you have an idea that could improve the lives of our clients?

More Info?

Applications and information packages can be downloaded from BrightNet>Business> Research>Don Hutchison & Peter Lane Scholarships

When’s the deadline?

5pm Friday, 23 September, 2022.

Enquiries to: Dr Angelita Martini Phone 9202 3551 or email scholarships@brightwatergroup.com

Congratulations to our Brightwater Spirit Quarterly Award winners

Authentic Award Winner

Progressive Award Winner

Sushma Chhetri Sahani

Chelsea Rudd

Multi Skilled Care Worker | South Lake

Senior Physiotherapist | Allied Health Services

Sushma was nominated for being an authentic, enthusiastic teammate.

She treats everyone with dignity and respect, works hard, safely and is always willing to help others.

She is observant and escalates any change in clients early. Other team members value working alongside her.

The April Falls Month was a spectacular success thanks to Chelsea who was nominated for effective, interesting education; innovative ways of engaging clients in exercise; bringing the team together through music, exercise, nutrition, function and fun; and managing it all safely during exposure/outbreak times. Her approach embodies Brightwater’s progressive value!

Caring Award Winners

Courageous Award Winner

Hazell Humphries Therapy Assistant | Birralee

Hazell was recognised for going above and beyond to care for every single resident, their families and for staff.

She always thinks of different ways to meet an individual’s needs and does it with love and joy.

Denise Hills Registered Nurse | Oxford Gardens

Denise shows care, motivation and extends support when the team at Oxford Gardens is short staffed. Her help and support always appreciated and she inspires others to work hard.

Her ability to manage issues smoothly and support the team is much appreciated.

Janet Alpin Roster Clerk/Administration Assistant | Brightwater House

Janet was nominated for her can-do attitude when asked to provide training/shadowing for two new Roster Clerks. Despite still learning her own role, Janet showed courage by accepting the challenge, developing resources and training the new Roster Clerks.

Mission Award Winner Andrew Heathfield Senior Support Coordinator | Capacity Building Team

Andy’s nomination recognised him for the amazing outcome he has achieved for a Capacity Building client. Richard spent 28 years and one day living in residential aged care. He was unhappy, sharing facilities (including a shower) and wanting space of his own. He is now out of residential aged care, in many ways thanks to Andy’s perseverance and dedication.

Nominate a colleague for the next round of Brightwater Spirit Awards Every quarter, employees who have been recognised via Brightwater Plus will be considered for a Quarterly Award for each of the values that make up the Brightwater Spirit.

Log in to Brightwater Plus to nominate a staff member who displays the Brightwater Spirit.

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