Australian Aged Care Quality Agency
Home Care commencing services
Assessment module
Provider guide to systems,
practices and processes
© Australian Aged Care Quality Agency
Enquiries:
Australian Aged Care Quality Agency
PO Box 773
Parramatta NSW 2124
AUSTRALIA
Users of this guide should refer to relevant legislation, including the Aged Care Act 1997, the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency Act 2013, the Quality Agency Principles 2013 and the Quality Agency Reporting Principles 2013.
Introduction
This Home Care Commencing services assessment moduleis for new approved providers who are participating in the ‘Increasing choices in home care’ programme. As a new approved provider, this assessment module has been designed to help you determine how ready your service is to commence delivery of care and services to care recipients under the Home Care packages programme.
This assessment module is not intended to be a comprehensive assessment of your service’s performance in meeting all of the Home Care Standards. Instead, thisassessment modulewill prompt you to consider four key aspectsof your systems and processes which are described on the next page.
Completing this assessment modulewill help your service document the systems, practices and processes in place for the care and services you plan to deliver. In working through this module, your service will be able to identify any areas requiring improvement and determine what actions are neededin response.
Further information: If you would like more information on the Home Care Standards, please refer to the ‘Practices and processes’ guide available on the Quality Agency website This guide provides detailed information about the Home Care Standards.
Other resources available on the Quality Agency website:
- Home Care Common Standards fact sheet
- Quality review guidelines
- Home care self-assessment tool
Home care is delivered under a consumer directed care framework and includes meeting the Charter of User Rights as described in the User Rights Principles 2014.
For more information about your responsibilities, refer to the Department of Health website and information about Legislated rights and responsibilities of providers and consumers
You may access legislation through the Federal Register of Legislation website
Aspects
As mentioned in the Introduction, this assessment moduleasks you to consider four key aspects to determine how ready your service is to commence delivery of home care services to care recipients. These four aspects are as follows:
- The provider has developed systems and processes to facilitate an efficient and effective service to ensure safe delivery of care and services for care recipients. This includes meeting regulatory requirements and the implementation of a system which is proactive in seeking improvements, and monitoring the service’s performance against the Home Care Standards.
- The provider has developed systems and processes to identify and manage potential risks to ensure the safety of care recipients, stakeholders and the organisation.
- There is a system for assessment, planning and delivery of care and/or services to care recipients with consideration of consumer choice and participation.
- There are systems for the communication and monitoring of care recipients’ goals, preferences and assessed needs. The systems support the identification of changes in care recipient wellbeing and preferences and the need for reassessment of the care and/or services provided.
On the following pages, these four aspects are presented in a table format. Each of these four aspects will have a series of ‘accountabilities’ for you to consider. The modulethen asks you to identify:
- What practices or processes your service has in place to support these accountabilities;
- What results your service may already have recorded to demonstrate these accountabilities are being achieved;
- What plans your service may have for improvements in the aspect area; and
- How your service will know that it has achieved its desired results for improvement.
Aspect 1: The provider has developed systems and processes to facilitate an efficient and effective service to ensure safe delivery of care and services for care recipients. This includes meeting regulatory requirements and the implementation of a system which is proactive in seeking improvements and monitoring the service’s performance against the Home Care Standards.
Accountabilities
- What systems does your service have to ensures it actively pursues continuous improvement, including:
methods of measuring and reviewing performance against the Home Care Standards such as auditing processes
mechanisms to ensure care recipients/representatives, staff, volunteers and others have opportunities for participation and involvement
processes for recording and monitoring progress and evaluation of improvements
processes for implementing changes resulting from improvement strategies
processes for communicating improvement outcomes to care recipients/representatives and stakeholders?
- What processes are used for identifying, actioning and monitoring regulatory requirements and guidelines, such as:
police checks, (including initial and ongoing police checks)
systems for developing individualised budgets and providing statements for consumer directed care
processes for engaging with care recipients and their representatives in developing and agreeing on care agreements
processes for engaging with care recipients to support choice and flexibility in the way care and services are provided to them
processes for identifying applicable legislation and guidelines
monitoring other regulatory requirements such as drivers licences, vehicle registration and insurance, public liability insurance, professional registrations, developing budgets and provision of monthly statements and funding requirements?
- What sort of guidelines and directions are provided to staff and volunteers to ensure they carry out their responsibilities?
- What processes are used to access and manage sub-contracted care and/or services (if any)?
- What sort of processes are in place to support information systems across the service including:
managing and sharing of information to required stakeholders
how suitable staff and volunteers will be identified, employed, inducted and provided with ongoing training
how schedules are maintained to ensure staffing levels support care recipient choices of care and service delivery
systems for ensuring adequate staffing/volunteers
processes for managing sub-contracted staffing (if any)?
- What processes are in place to ensure adequate supplies and equipment are available for the provision of care and services to care recipients?
- What systems are used to support care recipients to exercise choice, independence and control over the care and services they receive and when they receive it?
- What processes are used to enable a care recipient to nominate a representative to participate in decisions relating to their care?
Practices and processes
- What practices and processes doesyour service have in place to support the different accountabilities listed in relation to aspect 1?
Results
- What results have been achieved so far that demonstrates the practices and processes identified above will facilitate safe, effective and efficient care and service delivery in relation to aspect 1?
Improvements
- What plans, if any, does your service have for improvement in these areas?
Measures
- How will your service know that it has achieved the desired results for improvement?
Aspect 2: The provider has developed systems and processes to identify and manage potential risks to ensure the safety of care recipients, stakeholders and the organisation.
Accountabilities
- What sort of risk management framework (or plan) is in place to identify and manage risks across all levels of the organisation?
- What sort of monitoring and reporting systemsdoes the service have to identify and, where possible, prevent risks from arising and/or reoccurring?
- How are risk management strategies and procedures communicated and made accessible to staff and volunteers?
- What risk management strategies are in place to cover the following areas: business continuity, natural disaster, IT/communications systems failure, staff management, accidents/incidents, elder abuse, work health and safety, financial, failure to deliver service, sub-contracted care and/or services?
- What is the service’s approach to care recipients’ choices which may involve risk?
Practices and processes
- What practices and processes doesyour service have in place to support the different accountabilities listed in relation to aspect 2?
Results
- What results have been achieved so far that demonstrate the practices and processes identified above will facilitate effective and efficient care and service delivery in relation to aspect 2?
Improvements
- What plans, if any, does your service have for improvement in these areas?
Measures
- How will your service know that it has achieved the desired results for improvement?
Aspect 3: There is a system for assessment, planning and delivery of care and/or services to care recipients with consideration of consumer choice and participation.
Accountabilities
- How are care recipients provided with information which enables them to make decisions about the types of care and services they receive?
- How are care recipients’ goals, preferences, choices and need for services and/or care identified (assessment process)?
- What processes are used to assist care recipients to plan and document their care and/or service delivery (care planning)?
- What processes are used to ensure care recipients receive care which is appropriate to meeting their goals, preferences and assessed needs?
Practices and processes
- What practices and processes doesyour service have in place to support the different accountabilities listed in relation to aspect 3?
Results
- What results have been achieved so far that demonstrates the practices and processes identified above will facilitate effective and efficient care and service delivery in relation to aspect 3?
Improvements
- What plans, if any, does your service have for improvement in these areas?
Measures
- How will your service know that it has achieved the desired results for improvement?
Aspect 4: There are systems for the communication and monitoring of care recipients’ goals, preferences and assessed needs. The systems support the identification of changes in care recipient wellbeing and preferences and the need for reassessment of the care and/or services provided.
Accountabilities
- What processes are used for the communication of care recipients’ goals, preferences and assessed needs to staff (and volunteers as needed), involved in the provision of care and services?
- What reassessment processes are used to ensure the care and services provided continue to meet care recipients’ needs? This includes processes to identify and action any changes in a care recipient’s health and wellbeing and/or their changing preferences.
- How are care recipients engaged and encouraged to participate in the review of the care and services they receive?
- What methods exist for care recipients/representatives to provide feedback to the service?
- How is the provision of care and/or services monitored, including the need for reassessment of goals, preferences and needs?
Practices and processes
- What practices and processes doesyour service have in place to support the different accountabilities listed in relation to aspect 4?
Results
- What results have been achieved so far that demonstrate the practices and processes identified above will facilitate effective and efficient care and service delivery in relation to aspect 4?
Improvements
- What plans, if any, does your service have for improvement in these areas?
Measures
- How will your service know that it has achieved the desired results for improvement?
Home Care Commencing ServicesHDB-ACC-0031 v14.0
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