Interview on Channel 9 Today show
Research Page
Chasing the gold, we trade away rights of the old
What made Dr Russell an aged care advocate?
Consumer views of self-managing a home care package
Richard Colbeck can no longer pass the buck on the failure to protect Australians in aged care homes
Richard Colbeck can no longer pass the buck on the failure to protect Australians in aged care homes Guardian
Almost 700 deaths. Zero heads have rolled. Why? The Klaxon
“Political Stunt”: how the Budget cash splash means profit to providers over aged care reform
The federal government announced its $17.7 billion aged care budget with bells and whistles. Peak bodies for providers described it as a “big win for older people”. However, it is aged care providers, not older people, who have won.
Why were we so poorly prepared for COVID-19?
There have been three areas of major failures during the Covid-19 pandemic: hotel quarantine, aged care, and the vaccination rollout. These are all areas of Commonwealth responsibility. Scott Morrison not only failed to coordinate a national approach to quarantine and aged care but he and his colleagues sat on the sidelines providing unhelpful commentary.
Lack of financial transparency in aged care
End neo-liberal experiment: gutting of bureaucracy led to vaccine and aged care failures
Lynelle Briggs, one of the aged care royal commissioners has recommended that the federal Health Department be the major “service delivery agency” of the reforms the aged care sector so desperately needs. In the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, Briggs states: “The Australian Department of Health and Aged Care will need to step up to the requirements of a major hands-on service delivery agency if it is to lead and guide the aged care sector effectively through the reforms we recommend.”
The department simply does not have the capacity to be a “hands-on service delivery agency”. Its expertise is outsourcing.
KPMG – A SIRs for home and community care settings
KPMG’s ‘A SIRs for home and community care settings co-design paper’ highlights that co-design is merely a buzz word in aged care.
I attended KPMG’s co-design focus groups on Serious Incident Response Scheme for home and community care. I have no words to describe just how bad it was. I don’t blame the facilitator – she appeared to be very inexperienced. I do however blame the federal department of health for commissioning this type of work from organisations with no expertise in genuine co-design of health and social services.
I wrote to the organiser to express my views of the focus group.
Hi [Name of facilitator]
I apologise if I was unduly critical of yesterday’s group discussion/consultation.
I am committed to genuine co-design of health and social services, including aged care services. Not surprisingly, it frustrates me when organisations appropriate language without any regard for the practice that underpins a community engagement methodology.
When I read KPMG’s “A SIRs for home and community care settings co-design paper”, I was concerned by the document’s lack of substance. Do the authors have any expertise in home care? I attach my feedback to this document.
I have also included Mary Ivec’s feedback below. Mary self-manages her mother’s Level 4 HCP.
I read some of Mary’s feedback during the meeting. The participant who said “That did not answer the question” was correct. It didn’t. But I felt it needed to be said.
Like Mary, I support relationship based regulation for older people who receive services in the home. I also agree with Mary’s comment about “natural circles of support” (i.e. family members, neighbours, church group members, friends, GP, pharmacy, podiatrist, medical specialist, dentist, and if no-one is around – community visitors)
Based on my research with over 100 older people and families who use home care, it is a mistake to model SIRS for home and community care on residential care – given the different capacity of residents in aged care homes and older people who receive support to live at home.
In my view, it is worth considering successful approaches to elder abuse in home and community. For example, have you reviewed New Zealand’s restorative approaches to elder abuse? Or Senior Rights’ successful model to support those who have experienced abuse in home and community?
To assist with yesterday’s meeting, I collected some wonderful ideas from recipients of HCPs and CHSP. However, the questions you asked provided no opportunity to share these ideas.
I had intended to thematically analyse this ‘consumer feedback’ but, after yesterday’s meeting, I see no point.