Over 500 aged care homes and home care services recorded at least one non-compliance against the Aged Care Quality Standards between 1 July 2021 and 30 November 2021, according to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) – and these numbers look set to rise with more providers to face re-accreditation by the regulator in 2022.
The data shows that the most common Standards that providers didn’t comply with were:
- Standard 3 – Personal care and clinical care: 201 instances
- Standard 8 – Organisational governance: 128 instances
- Standard 2 – Ongoing assessment and planning with consumers: 112 instances
- Standard 7 – Human resources: 107 instances
While the data does not cover the number of services that were assessed, the AACQA’s data for the July to September quarter indicates that of 288 site visits, 143 non-compliances were recorded – a strike rate of just under 50%.
Comparing the number of site visits for the quarter with the data for the five months to November would indicate that over half of services are now notching up at least one non-compliance.
The data comes as the exceptional circumstances extensions to accreditation timelines, granted by the regulator early in the pandemic, are due to run out.
“The exceptional circumstances extensions have no doubt been crucial in supporting the focus on COVID-19,” said advisory firm Ansell Strategic in a bulletin last week.
“However, recommencement of re-accreditation auditing is now intended to ramp up across the country, and 66% of the Nation’s homes are due for re-accreditation in 2022.”
The Government’s public tender website reveals the Quality Commission is beefing up its resources in preparation, with multiple tenders awarded to new assessor contracts.
Ansell Strategic notes that these assessors are also increasingly non-clinical.
“As the Standards are designed to be interpreted by the providers in a way that meets their ethos and mission, the need for key personnel to have a comprehensive understanding of the Standards and how they are met by their home is more important than ever,” wrote Operations Team Director Judi Coombe.
Ansell is offering pre-accreditation review of homes to ensure early identification of any issues.
For more information, contact Judi Coombe:
Email: judi@ansellstrategic.com.au
Phone: +61 438 418 908
