Keeping up with Quality Standards

Aged Care providers offering Commonwealth subsidised aged care services will be required to comply with a set of standards from 1 July 2019. Traditionally there have been two sets of standards, one for residential aged care and one for home care packages.

The Australian Government has recently set new standards that will cover both residential aged care and home care that clearly define what good care should look like. Aged care providers will be assessed in line with these standards and must be able to provide evidence of their compliance with and performance against them from 1 July. The Quality Standards focus on outcomes for people receiving care and reflect the level of care and services the community can expect from organisations that provide Commonwealth subsidised aged care services.

Each standard says what the consumer can expect. Aged Care providers need to meet an “outcome” and demonstrate how they are doing this. The intent of the new standards is to make it easier to check that people are receiving good care, both from the perspective of the provider and the person receiving the care and their family. There is an emphasis on collaboration and partnership with families and on the provision of person centred care.

There are eight standards, and each one is about an aspect of care that contributes to safety, health and wellbeing, as listed below:

1. Consumer dignity and choice
2. Ongoing assessment and planning with consumers
3. Personal care and clinical care
4. Services and supports for daily living
5. Organisation’s service environment
6. Feedback and complaints
7. Human resources
8. Organisational governance

Each of the Quality Standards is expressed in three ways:

• A statement of outcome for the consumer
• A statement of expectation for the organisation
• Organisational requirements to demonstrate that the standard has been met.

If you are already receiving aged care services you can ask for a copy of the new standards, or if you were wanting more information you can visit the Department of Health website.