The Australian Aged Care Collaboration (AACC) has launched an Aged Care Reform Scorecard as part of a new series to monitor progress on Royal Commission-recommended reform – and there is no gold star for the Federal Government.
The Scorecard features answers from providers to three key questions on Royal Commission reforms:
- are they on time?
- have they met expectations?
- are they instilling confidence in the future?
The 12-page December 2021 scorecard found that the median respondent was only 30% confident in the success of reform so far, with only a quarter of providers more than 50% confident.
Comments from providers reflect on the “disjointed process” and lack of a detailed plan for all of the reforms with clear KPIs.
In the nine areas identified by the AACC as key to the Government’s ‘five pillars of reform’, workforce and quality assurance and improvement were rated the worst for confidence in reform.
40% of respondents singled out wages, staffing or workforce as priorities.
Following the results of the inaugural scorecard, AACC is calling on the Federal Government for:
- a strategic response to the range of workforce issues;
- a consistent flow of information about reform implementation, including timeframes for consultations and progress against milestones; and
- genuine partnering with providers and other stakeholders to work towards a shared vision of high-quality aged care.
But what does the Department of Health think of providers’ involvement in the reform process?
See the next story.
