Residential aged care and home care providers are only the halfway point of the Aged Care Royal Commission reforms – and new governance obligations will place further strain on providers’ purses.
“The reform five-year program is a bit like running a marathon, and we’re only at the 20km point,” Cynthia Payne, Managing Director of aged care advisory firm Anchor Excellence, told The SOURCE.
From 31 October 2023, residential and home care providers must provide a statement signed by their ‘governing body’ stating whether the provider did or did not comply with its duties under aged care legislation.
There’s “very little time” for key personnel to comply, Cynthia said.
“This is an example of things moving quite quickly. And it’s quite overwhelming at the executive level,” she said.
From 1 December 2023, a suite of changes ensuring boards have sufficient independent non-executive directors, advisory boards, and appropriately skilled staff must also be complied with (see lead image).
“There are issues with recruitment of independent non-executive directors,” Cynthia said. “Suitable directors are hard to find and can expect to be paid between $40,000 and $90,000.”
Many providers are also struggling with the “mechanics" of governance, which are still unfamiliar to some in the sector.
HOME CARE
Many home care providers are struggling with “reform fatigue”, Lorraine Poulos, founder of home care training and consultancy firm Lorraine Poulos and Associates, told The SOURCE.
Many home care providers have already taken steps towards the introduction of strengthened provider governance, but some are “dragging the chain”.
“For some providers, lack of availability of suitably experienced people in their local communities and broader workforce availability issues will be a barrier to the smooth implementation of measures concerned with membership of governing bodies and key personnel and workforce suitability,” Lorraine said.
Some home care providers have had difficulty interpreting some of the requirements, in particular those relating to membership of governing bodies, Lorraine said.
New structures and practices are putting “increased pressure” on “often stretched organisational resources,” she said.
The SOURCE: Next year, the pace of reform won’t slow down – there’s the new Aged Care Act and the new Support at Home Program.
