Offering Monthly Care Statements

Getting ready

You can offer Monthly Care Statements verbally or in writing from 1 October 2024.

Offering them verbally can help you build your current processes to review and discuss a resident’s care needs. You can also plan for how you will give mandatory written statements in the future.

To give written Monthly Care Statements, you should:

• find out what information you already collect and identify any gaps
• put in place internal processes for preparing and giving the statements that include:
  • timing
  • staff responsibilities
  • arrangements for quality assurance and clinical review.
• get your ICT and software systems ready
• train your staff.

Monthly Care Statements will not be included in audit processes during the voluntary period.

What to include

You are likely already recording the information you will include in Monthly Care Statements. 

For all residents, statements will include information on:

• wellbeing activities, such as social activities, arts and craft, or exercise
• nutrition and weight 
• changes to medication 
• appointments, hospital or doctor visits.

When relevant, statements may also include:

• summary information (diagnoses)
• wound management
• mobility and falls.

Contribution to care minutes

What contributes

Clinical activities related to Monthly Care Statements will contribute to care minutes if they are completed by:

• a registered nurse
• an enrolled nurse 
• a personal care worker/assistant in nursing. 

Clinical activities that contribute to care minutes include:

• the clinical review of the statement (for example, checking whether changes to a resident’s care plan are required)  
• follow-up conversations with the resident about the statement 
• refining and amending a resident’s care plan. 

This approach applies during the voluntary period from 1 October 2024.  

See more information about what activities count towards care minutes in the Care minutes and 24/7 registered nurse responsibility guide.

What does not contribute

Administrative tasks related to Monthly Care Statements do not contribute to care minutes, because they are not direct care activities. This includes time spent:

• developing internal processes
• staff developing and quality checking the statements 
• distributing written Monthly Care Statements.

Support and guidance

To learn more about preparing Monthly Care Statements, read our:

• guidance document
• templates and instructions on how to use them.