Receiving a needs assessment referral
. The team leader at the assessment organisation can:
- review referrals and change their priority
- action referrals (accept, reject, transfer)
- triage referrals
- assign, unassign, and reassign referrals to aged care needs assessors in their team
- action and assign Support Plan Review requests.
For more information on accepting and managing referrals, read sections 4.1 and 4.2 of the My Aged Care Assessment Manual.
For more information on assigning referrals or Support Plan Review requests, read Managing referrals for assessment and Support Plan Reviews.
Triaging the referral
Triage happens for every accepted referral, before the needs assessment. Triage helps ensure that older persons receive the right assessment for their needs. It requires the older person’s consent, and is generally confirmed over a telephone call.
The triage process must be completed by a clinical staff member with the team leader role and the Triage Delegate title. Triage Delegates must refer to the triage guidance in the Integrated Assessment Tool User Guide to ensure delivery of high-quality triage. They are required to complete all mandatory training before they perform triage.
Triage should be completed with the older person and/or the nominated contact within 3 calendar days of issue of the referral. Some older persons with higher levels of risk or need should have faster triage.
At the conclusion of triage, Triage Delegates will confirm:
- the older person’s eligibility for an assessment
- assessment type
- priority of the assessment
- whether further urgent services and/or linking supports are required.
The assessment organisation then schedules the assessment based on the timeframe for the assessment type and priority. This timeframe is usually within 5 to 40 calendar days.
In limited circumstances, such as assessments in hospitals or remote regions, an assessor may refer the older person to their own assessment organisation. In this case, the assessor may conduct triage under the active supervision of the Triage Delegate.
For more information on conducting triage, read section 5.2 of the My Aged Care Assessment Manual.
More information
Find more information at Single Assessment System resources.
If you are an older person thinking of getting assessed for aged care, you can visit the My Aged Care website to learn more.