Six new quality indicators (QIs) will need to be reported on by residential aged care providers, while Home Care providers will have their own reportable standards implemented soon too.
This weekend, providers will begin reporting on six new QIs through The National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program, coming into effect April 1. In a similar vein, the Department of Health and Aged Care is working towards implementing up to five QIs for Home Care providers.
Home Care QIs will include “consumer experience and quality of life measures for in-home aged care” but has no set date for when it will be coming into effect.
For residential aged care providers, the six new QIs coming into effect this Saturday relate to:
- Activities of daily living
- Incontinence care
- Hospitalisation
- Workforce
- Consumer experience
- Quality of life
Incontinence care is particularly important for most aged care clients as they feel continence management was an area that needed the most attention.
75–81% of people in residential aged care facilities live with incontinence and the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s Final Report acknowledged it was an issue, saying the Commission heard “terrible examples of substandard incontinence care”. But The Commission only made one recommendation regarding continence management.
The rollout of Home Care QIs was earmarked in the 2021–22 budget measure: Empowering consumers of aged care with information to exercise choice and is part of the Federal Government’s response to The Commission’s Final Report.
Regarding the new residential aged care QIs, providers will be required to collect this new QI data in the April-June 2023 quarter and submit it in the July 1-21 reporting period through the My Aged Care Provider Portal.
Find out more about your requirements on the Department of Health and Aged Care’s website.
