News

The media recently reported that the first person in Victoria has passed away using the voluntary assisted dying (VAD) scheme that came into effect on 19 June 2019. Other states are also looking at introducing similar laws, so the issue is likely to stay on the agenda for some time.

How does the scheme impact retirement village operators?
With strict eligibility requirements to access the scheme and only specially trained medical practitioners able to prescribe and administer the VAD substance, the direct impact of the scheme on retirement village operators is limited at this stage.

Retirement village operators may have residents in their villages who are considering using the scheme. For this reason, operators will need to consider how staff should respond to a request, and what they will do if residents do access the scheme.

Read more:

Voluntary Assisted Dying: What do Retirement Village Operators need to know?

A recent interview with Janet Anderson – Commissioner, Aged Care Quality & Safety Commission by HelloCare.

Watch here:

Interview Janet Anderson – Commissioner, Aged Care Quality & Safety Commission

So the Department may have finally notified us last week that the BIR rate had changed and was to be backdated… but they got it wrong!

As per their previous notice, the BIR was to be backdated to 1 July, now they are saying this should have only been 1 August.

The BIR should be:

• 3.75% for the period 1 July 2019 to 31 July 2019, and
• 3.0% from 1 August 2019.

We have a very minor update available due to the Department’s mistake with the change of the BIR rate, and version 5.7.08210.0 has now been pushed out to your server to be run when you are ready.

Read more:

Base interest rate changes

Schedule of Fees and Charges for Residential and Home Care From 1 July 2019 (.pdf)

Schedule of Fees and Charges for Pre 1 July 2014 Residents from 1 July 2019 (.pdf)

Three Hearings have been announced for Melbourne during September and October.

Melbourne Hearing 1 – Younger people in residential aged care

Melbourne hearing 1 will inquire into younger people in residential aged care, with a focus on impact, drivers and appropriateness of allocation policy as well as how to best support young people wishing to leave residential aged care.

• Date: 9 – 11 September and 13 September 2019
• Location: Ceremonial Court room, Level 3, County Court, 250 William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
• Time: 9:30am local time

Melbourne Hearing 2 – Diversity in aged care

Melbourne hearing 2 will inquire into diversity in aged care, including culturally and linguistically diverse people, LGBTI groups, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, care leavers, veterans, and the homeless or those at risk of homelessness.

• Date: 7 – 9 October and 11 October 2019
• Location: Commonwealth Law Courts Building, 305 William St, Melbourne VIC 3000
• Time: 9:30am local time

Melbourne Hearing 3 – Aged care workforce

Melbourne hearing 3 will inquire into the aged care workforce, with a focus on how to enhance capacity and how to make the aged care sector a more attractive and rewarding place to work.

• Date: 14 – 18 October 2019
• Location: Commonwealth Law Courts Building, 305 William St, Melbourne VIC 3000
• Time: 9:30am local time

Read more:

Hearings

Australian Healthcare Associates (AHA) has been engaged by the department to evaluate the Aged Care System Navigator Measure (the Measure).

AHA has developed a discussion paper informed by stakeholder consultations and existing system navigator models. The paper outlines proposed design principles, components and considerations for implementation of aged care system navigator models in Australia.

Feedback on the discussion paper will be used in the evaluation of the Measure and contribute to the aged care system navigation policy direction.

Read more:

Provide your feedback on the future of aged care system navigation

Evaluation of the Aged Care System Navigator Measure Discussion Paper (.pdf)

Discussion paper: have your say – Online Survey

As some of you may have realised the Department made changes to the BIR rate…but forgot to notify everyone they had updated the rate and documents and backdated this rate to 1 July.

Finally, on the 13th of August, they decided to inform us of this officially.

Luckily one of our eagle-eyed Manad Plus users noticed this change and let us know. We released a mini-release note on Friday 9th August with the changes and then made the version available to be installed first thing on Monday 12th. If you are running v5.7.08090.0 or higher then you have the latest BIR rate.

So this is old news now but here is the official Department update on the rate change.

Read more:

Deeming rates and base rate (BIR) changes

Schedule of Fees and Charges for Residential and Home Care From 1 July 2019 (.pdf)

Schedule of Fees and Charges for Pre 1 July 2014 Residents from 1 July 2019 (.pdf)

We have commenced an integration with the PainChek app.

The integration will allow you to enable PainChek to access your Client list as well as insert data from their app into your Manad Plus database as a ‘PainChek’ Risk Scale.

This will then be available with all your other Care Documents.

Read more:

PainChek

Rolling out PainChek to every aged care facility across the country

$5 Million for Australian Innovation to Reduce Dementia Pain (.pdf)

Contact Details:

If you are intersted in using PainChek within your home then please contact.

? David Allsopp (Head of Business Development ANZ)

☎ +61 450 132 834

? david.allsopp@painchek.com

Community forums are another way that members of the public can engage with the Commission. Forums are taking place in a number of locations around the country.

The forums are an opportunity for members of the public to hear about the work of the Commission and to offer their ideas on the challenges and strengths of aged care. This will also be a chance for anyone to propose ideas for improvement.

Brisbane Community Forum – Monday 19 August 2019

• Location: Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Cnr Merivale & Glenelg Streets, South Brisbane, QLD 4101
• Date: Monday, 19 August 2019
• Time: 9:30am to midday

Rockhampton Community Forum – Tuesday 20 August 2019

• Location: Callaghan Park Functions and Events Centre, Reaney Street, Rockhampton, QLD 4701
• Date: Tuesday, 20 August 2019
• Time: 9:30am to midday

Read more:

Community Forums

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

Aged home owner didn’t know about closure

Regulators may have ignored “red flags”: Aged Care Royal Commission

Aged care royal commission told staff were threatened during evacuation of Earle Haven nursing home

Flu shots to be mandatory for hospital staff in high-risk roles

Aged care subcontractor demanded $3m a day before sudden shutdown

Staff sexually abused, hit aged residents

Catastrophe warning: Aged care assessors in the dark, inquiry told

Aged provider ‘should have gone in 2017’

Carers wore thongs, had dirty hands, ‘called me a b—g’, woman tells hearing

RC hears conflicting reports about Earle Haven closure

Experts share evidence on how to care and lead with empathy, compassion

Australian Medical Association assesses My Health Record’s success so far

ROYAL COMMISSION: “It was quite a fraught day”

Aged care facility more concerned about identity of whistleblower than improving care

Commissioner ‘disturbed’ aged care abuse only acted on after media reports

Chemical and physical restraints were used before aged care home shut

Morrison Government faces backlog of problems

Pet-friendly aged care ticks both economic and health boxes

Aged care workers speak to Royal Commission in Adelaide

Report shows almost all facilities failed review audit

The Aged Care Royal Commission hears recommendations are ignored and elderly at risk

RC hears about gaps in compliance processes

Inquiry highlights siloed approach to regulation

Aged care resident says we have rights

ROYAL COMMISSION: Lacking regulation and inadequate Government action

Aged care workers under too much pressure

Questions raised over survey’s dire predictions of aged-care employment

Aged care residents’ nutrition a ‘false sense of security’

For the period of 1 July 2019 to 1 September 2019, assessment contacts (unless determined by matters as above) will focus on:

• Standard 1 – Consumer dignity and choice; and/or
• Standard 6 – Feedback and complaints.

Read more:

Focus of unannounced assessment contacts from 1 July 2019