Survey on food and nutrition in aged care homes
In its interim report, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety identified food as a major quality and safety issue. Improving food and the social elements of eating can reduce people’s needs for other aged care services.
The department is partnering with the Maggie Beer Foundation to deliver a National Congress on food, nutrition and the dining experience in aged care.
In preparation for the Congress, the Maggie Beer Foundation is conducting a Survey of Food, Nutrition and the Dining Experience in Australian Aged Care Homes.
This survey forms part of a comprehensive review of food, nutrition and the dining experience and will inform Congress discussions. The aim is to find innovative options for improving food and the food experience in aged care services.
Your response, by 11 September, will help give the Congress a complete picture to work with. Please forward the survey to the person in your home who is most responsible for food, hydration and nutrition.
Emergency leave provision
The Australian Government announced the emergency leave provision for residential aged care on 14 May 2020. This article reminds service providers how to enter this leave in the payment system.
- The new leave provision enables, for a specified time period and location, care residents to take emergency leave (non-hospital), rather than using their existing social leave entitlements.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has been deemed an emergency situation. Emergency leave is available from 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020.
- Services Australia deployed the payment system functionality for emergency leave on 27 June 2020. This included suspending the social leave count during the emergency leave period.
- Service providers should continue to enter claimable social leave events for a care recipient as per the current process. No additional leave coding is required.
Aged Care Provider Portal update
The new Aged Care Provider Portal (ACCP) is available for Flexible Care providers to make claims online.
Flexible Care providers can use the ACCP to:
- view and finalise claims
- download payment statements and reports
- view and submit events for care recipients by service
- self-manage over occupancy (for flexible care only).
To access the new portal, providers will need to register for a PRODA individual account.