Your Aged Care Update issue 27, 2022

Date published:

15 November 2022

Audience:

Health sector

Consultation closing soon: Revised Aged Care Quality Standards

There is still time to have your say on the revised Aged Care Quality Standards. Consultation closes on 25 November.

We are conducting an urgent review of the Aged Care Quality Standards, as recommended by the Royal Commission, and is seeking feedback on a revised version.

The Quality Standards provide a shared understanding of what is expected in aged care, and are a valuable resource for older Australians, their families, providers and staff.

Find out about the revised Quality Standards and have your say at the Aged Care Engagement Hub.

Webinar: Reporting under the SIRS for home services

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is hosting its third Serious Incident Reporting Scheme (SIRS) for home services webinar at 3:30pm–4:30pm AEDT on Wednesday 16 November.

The Commission and Dementia Australia will discuss the importance of quality SIRS reporting and the SIRS in relation to people living with cognitive impairment or dementia receiving care in their homes. We will also demonstrate how to report incidents in the My Aged Care portal.

The webinar will be recorded and questions for the panel Q&A session can be submitted before and during the webinar.

The recordings of other reform webinars held to date are on the Commission’s website.

Permanent closure of the AN-ACC Funding Helpdesk

With the implementation of the Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) and a drop in enquiries about AN-ACC funding, the AN-ACC Funding Helpdesk will be permanently closed on Friday 9 December 2022.

Providers can continue to contact the Helpdesk until this date and are encouraged to do so well in advance.

We aim to respond to all outstanding queries before 9 December, and will email providers if a response will be provided at a later date.

Enquiries received after 9 December will not be forwarded. Providers should call the My Aged Care contact centre on 1800 200 422 (Mon-Fri 8am-8pm, Sat 10am-2pm).

For more information see the Aged Care Funding Reform resources, including the AN-ACC Funding Guide.

24/7 registered nurse supplement and AN-ACC subsidy increase

As announced in the 2022-23 October Budget, residential aged care providers will receive the following support to meet registered nurse and care time requirements:

from 1 July 2023, eligible residential aged care services with 60 residents or less will receive a supplement to support the delivery of 24/7 registered nurse care
eligible residential aged care services will receive an increase in the Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) Daily Basic Subsidy in 2024-25 to help meet the average care time requirement of 215 minutes per resident per day (including 44 minutes with a registered nurse).

For more information, see these resources:

Webinar: Quarterly Financial Report – Quarter 2

From 1 January 2023, approved providers will be able to submit their Quarterly Financial Report (QFR) for the second quarter of the 2022-23 financial year.

To help aged care providers prepare, we are hosting a QFR Quarter 2 webinar from 2:00pm-3:30pm AEDT on Thursday 8 December. During the webinar, presenters will:

go over key QFR areas, including learnings identified in Quarter 1
provide an opportunity for providers to ask questions.

Monthly Care Statements: Pilot Program update

In response to the Royal Commission a requirement is being established for all residential aged care homes to provide Monthly Care Statements to residents or their authorised representatives. Monthly Care Statements will provide a summary of the care received, and any significant changes or events that occurred during the previous month.

We are launching a pilot program as part of a staged approach to implementing Monthly Care Statements. The statements are intended to enhance, not replace, existing communication practices.

We are working with the Nous Group in partnership with the Aged and Community Care Providers Association to facilitate the pilot. If you are interested in participating, please contact Amanda Kobilanski.

By participating in the pilot, you can trial the Monthly Care Statements content and process, with external support; provide valuable feedback to inform policy; and start preparing now.

Find further information on Monthly Care Statements on our website.

Providers: Update your profile on My Aged Care with supporting information

Adding extra information to your My Aged Care profile summary is an excellent way to improve your provider profile.

With more than 1,300 searches in the Find a provider tool each month, including additional service and contact information (e.g. a website address), the tool helps older people and their support networks to find providers who are a good fit. Aged care homes can also attach a brochure to their profile.

When you check your profile to see if it is current, do the same for your supporting information.

Find out more at:

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022

18–24 November is World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, a great reminder for people working in the health and aged care sectors to think carefully about how we use antimicrobial medicines.

This year’s theme is Preventing Antimicrobial Resistance Together, acknowledging the links between people, animals, plants and our shared environment in reducing antimicrobial resistance.

In human health, it is vital to use antibiotics wisely:

Consider any safe alternatives to an immediate antibiotic prescription
Prescribe in accordance with therapeutic guidelines, and where possible use diagnostics to inform treatment decisions
Talk to your patients about the importance of appropriate antibiotic use and the dangers of antibiotic resistance
Give your patients advice on how to manage symptoms without antibiotics
Apply best practice infection prevention and control
Talk to your patients about how to prevent infections and their spread (e.g. vaccination, good hygiene and hand washing).

Webinar: Art and dance therapy programs with older adults

Join Swinburne’s Wellbeing Clinic for Older Adults for their upcoming webinar on ageing at 4.45pm‑6pm AEDT on Friday 25 November.

This webinar is for people employed in aged care, as well as psychologists, social workers, counsellors and volunteers who work with older adults.

Dance therapist Xanthe Golenko, and art therapist Jackie Burden, introduce dance and art as interventions for improving wellbeing in older adults. The presenters explain how dance and art activate brain regions involved in wellbeing. They explain how dance, music and art can stimulate self-narratives, emotional expression and memory.

Find out more information and register for the webinar.

New Multi-Purpose Services in NSW, SA and Qld

Three approved providers have been allocated 99 flexible places through the 2021-22 Flexible Aged Care Places (Multi-Purpose Services) Allocations Round.

The providers will establish 5 new Multi-Purpose Services (MPS) in NSW, SA and Qld.

The results of this allocations round and the updated map of MPS locations are available on our website.

If you have questions, please contact mpsagedcare@health.gov.au

Webinar: Improving respite care for people with dementia and their carers grant opportunity

We are hosting a webinar about the Improving respite care for people with dementia and their carers grant opportunity at 11am-12pm AEDT on Tuesday 29 November.

The grant provides total funding of up to $61.63 million (GST excl) over four years to increase access to dementia-specific respite services which support informal carers and families caring for a person living with dementia. For more information, visit the GrantConnect website.

We encourage you to register and submit questions before and during the webinar. We will share a recording for those who are unable to attend.

Changes to social leave claiming

Emergency leave was introduced in 2020 to be used only in declared emergency situations.

As previously advised, a new emergency leave claiming type is available following the Aged Care Payment System upgrade on 20 August 2022. All social and emergency leave taken before 19 August 2022 should be submitted as emergency leave. Social and emergency leave taken from 20 August 2022 onwards are separate leave events and should be claimed separately.

A resident’s 52 days of allocated social leave for the 2022-23 financial year commenced from 20 August 2022. This coincides with the activation of the new emergency leave code.

For enquiries about leave claiming contact Services Australia by calling 1800 195 206 or emailing aged.care.liaison@servicesaustralia.gov.au

Residential aged care facilities to supply continence products

Residential aged care facilities must now supply continence products to all permanent residents.

The eligibility criteria for the Continence Aids Payment Scheme (CAPS) was updated on 1 October 2022.

Permanent residents receiving CAPS payments before 1 October 2022 will no longer be eligible for CAPS from 30 June 2023. Impacted residents will receive a letter from Services Australia in February 2023.

For more information, please call the Services Australia CAPS team on 1800 239 309.

HCP Program Assurance Community of Practice: Live chat session

The next live chat session for the Home Care Packages (HCP) Program Assurance Community of Practice will be held on Wednesday 23 November at 11:30am-12:30pm AEDT.

This month, department staff will be online to answer your questions about unspent funds and sub-contracting/third-party charges. Join us to discuss:

provider obligations regarding unspent funds when a care recipient transfers between providers or exits the HCP Program
key findings and revised guidance about sub-contracting/third-party charges from our first program assurance review.

All approved HCP providers are welcome to attend. For those who have not yet joined, sign up for the HCP Program Assurance Community of Practice.

For help signing up, email HCPProviderEducation@health.gov.au

Updated Home Care Package pricing report

The National summary of Home Care Package prices – 30 September 2022 is now available on our website.

To improve the transparency of Home Care Package pricing for older Australians, their families and carers, the report shows pricing data for common home care services, care management and package management.

At 30 September 2022, the median nursing price was $103 per standard hour, while light gardening, in-home respite, personal care, and cleaning/household tasks ranged from $60 to $65 per standard hour.

We have also published the Home Care Package – Published pricing schedule – 30 September 2022, showing the full pricing data entered into My Aged Care by providers.

Expanded access to urgent GEAT for Home Care Package recipients

The Australian Government is providing an additional $10 million to help Home Care Package (HCP) recipients access urgent goods, equipment and assistive technology (GEAT) through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP).

Approved HCP recipients will be able to access up to $2,500 per year for equipment, provided by the national provider geat2GO.

To be eligible:

an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) must assess the care recipient as having an urgent or immediate need for equipment; and
the recipient has insufficient funds in their HCP budget for equipment to meet short-term needs.

Geat2GO will accept requests from Tuesday 15 November. Find out more on our website.

Webinar: Reforming in-home aged care update

We are hosting a webinar on Wednesday 7 December at 2pm‑4pm AEDT to provide an update on the in-home aged care reforms.

Join us to hear about the feedback we received in response to A new program for in-home aged care discussion paper and next steps for the reforms.

If you are unable to attend the webinar the recording will be available on our website by 16 December.

Visit the in-home aged care resources page to access the discussion paper and summary paper. Submissions close on 25 November.

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