News

The Aged Care Financing Authority (ACFA) presented its 2017 Report on Funding and Financing of the Aged Care Industry to Government on 26 July 2017.

This is the fifth annual report on the funding and financing arrangements and key characteristics of the Australian aged care sector. Read the report to find out more about:

• scale and funding structures;

• financial performance based on 2015-16 data;

• commentary on previous and ongoing reforms;

• future opportunities and challenges.

Read more:

2017 ACFA Annual Report now available

Report on the Funding and Financing of the Aged Care Industry

2017 Report on the Funding and Financing of the Aged Care Industry (.pdf)

Dear Residential aged care provider,

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is surveying all Australians on the Commonwealth Electoral Roll to get their views about whether the law should be changed to allow same sex couples to marry.

This is a voluntary survey. However, the ABS would like every eligible Australian to have an opportunity to participate and have their say. While it is expected that most eligible people in Australia will be able to participate using the postal service, the ABS will implement a number of additional strategies for people who may not be able to complete a postal survey.

Residents of Aged Care facilities may complete the survey independently through the postal service, by requesting the assistance of someone they trust, or through a paperless response.

Read more:

Australian Bureau of Statistics Aged Care Letter: Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey (.pdf)

View the July 2017 communiqué from the Queensland Department of Health on seasonal influenza for residential aged care providers.

Read more:

Seasonal influenza outbreaks

Seasonal Influenza – Residential Care (QLD Health) (.pdf)

The independent reviewers have an extra four weeks to complete the review on aged care quality regulatory processes.

A large volume of information was gathered through the consultation process including:

• over 400 submissions;

• 39 meetings with key stakeholders;

• 3 consumer forums.

Read more:

Aged care quality regulatory processes review extended

Review of National Aged Care Quality Regulatory Processes

Released: 15 August 2017

A user-friendly new website activated today provides unprecedented detail and ease of access to Australia’s aged care information and data breakdowns.

The Minister for Aged Care, Ken Wyatt AM, said the GEN website was a one–stop shop that would benefit older people, their families, researchers and everyone needing details on aged care.

“This is the latest example of the Turnbull Government’s commitment to aged care transparency and making life easier for older Australians,” the Minister said.

“The GEN website uses easy to understand language and illustrations to report on capacity and activity in the aged care system, including people’s care needs, assessments and the services they use.

“It is designed to cater for all levels of users, from aged care residents to academics and service providers seeking high quality data and analysis.”

Read more:

GEN-erational change as aged care data access is made easier for all (.pdf)

GEN website

Released: 15 August 2017

The Turnbull Government has today announced the start of a landmark investigation of the comparative costs of providing residential aged care to older Australians with varying needs.

The Minister for Aged Care, Ken Wyatt AM, said the Residential Aged Care Resource Utilisation and Classification (RUC) study would help guide long-term reform in residential aged care funding.

“This is the first time relative costs have been systematically studied since the 1990s,” the Minister said.

“The Government wants to work with the sector to ensure the way we fund residential aged care is fair, stable, encourages innovation and is easy to apply and understand.

“Australians need an aged care system that is adaptable and can meet future challenges.”

Read more:

New Study Provides Insight into Residential Care Costs (.pdf)

In Case You Missed It – Below are links to recent articles on Aged Care and Healthcare that may be of interest:

Read more:

AAA – Call for reform of aged care pain practices

AAA – ‘The market alone is not the solution to problems of quality’

AAA – Significant unmet need for palliative services in residential care despite cost-effectiveness

AAA – Fax-free healthcare hindered in aged care

ABC – Opal Aged Care boss Gary Barnier accused of bullying complaining patients’ relatives

TWS – Retirement industry commits to action plan on village costs and contracts

ACC – Understanding How Dogs are Helping Those in Aged Care

ACO – Music Therapy Unlocks Memory Through Song

ACG – Review into regulations in Australian aged care needed now more than ever

ACG – BlueCross and SapphireCare make for a merge

ACG – RSL Care + RDNS reveals new name

AAA – ACFA highlights concerns over choice of payment breaches

ACG – Rise in flu cases causes aged care homes to close the doors

ABC – Families say loved ones mistreated and neglected in Opal Aged Care homes

ABC – Nursing homes with dozens of complaints against them still getting top marks

The Department of Health has released a new edition of its ‘Information for Aged Care Providers’ newsletter.

Read more:

Information for Aged Care Providers – Issue #2017/14 (.pdf)

Hi Users,

The v5.5 Release Notes highlighting each of the new features and changes to any existing features are now available for download and review.

You can access the Release Notes by logging into the Manad Plus Help Centre portal with your usual credentials (verified email and password). Here you will be able to download the .pdf file located at the bottom of the page. Please note, there are so many new features to tell you about this is a large file (10 MB).

IMPORTANT:

Please remember to always read and communicate the Release Notes via a meeting with all your staff so they are aware of the changes before any upgrade takes place.

We are still finalising testing and will notify everyone again via our eNews once the final version is available and been signed off to be pushed out to your server. Once you have received the update file it can then be run at a time convenient to you and your staff by your IT Administrator. We recommend you confirm with your key stakeholders the date/time and this is published for all users, as everyone will need to be logged out of Manad Plus so your Administrator can run the update.

As a safety measure, always ensure your IT performs a backup of your SQL database before the minor version update is run and this file is stored safely before you update versions.

If you have any questions, then please contact our Help Desk team: support@manad.com.au

Message from NSW Department of Planning and Environment

We are writing to you regarding the requirement for all residential aged care facilities in NSW to have a fire sprinkler system.

The requirement for all residential aged care facilities in NSW to have a fire sprinkler system was introduced to improve the safety of residents following the tragic fire at a Quakers Hill nursing home in November 2011.

To help ensure compliance with the requirements, Fire & Rescue NSW will be undertaking a program of visits to residential aged care facilities across NSW.

Read more:

Message from NSW Department of Planning and Environment

Fire sprinklers in residential aged care facilities (.pdf)