Australian accreditation of residential aged care

Citation

(2001), "Australian accreditation of residential aged care", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 14 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2001.06214bab.007

Australian accreditation of residential aged care

Australian accreditation of residential aged care

In January 2001 the Australian Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency announced that the first phase of the accreditation process, designed to improve the quality of care in Australia's residential aged care services was complete within the time-frame laid in the Government's legislation.

Nearly 3,000 residential aged care services were accredited before the 1 January 2001 deadline. This means that they will continue to receive Commonwealth residential care subsidies, which represent 75 per cent of the cost of care for residents.

Accreditation is a process of continuous improvement; those facilities that are accredited will also be monitored and may be subject to spot checks to ensure the quality of care and services continue to improve. Providers that do not continue to meet the accreditation standards may have their accreditation revoked or sanctions applied.

The accreditation process has been designed to ensure that frail older Australians in residential facilities receive the best possible care. The process of certification, which focuses on improving the physical environment in residential care facilities, complements this. These processes amount to the first concerted attempt to methodically improve care and building standards, including fire safety, in Australia's residential aged care facilities.

These and other reforms have led to approximately Australian$800 million being spent on capital works to improve and upgrade aged care accommodation.

Since the introduction of the Aged Care Act in 1997, government representatives have conducted over 12,000 visits to Australia's aged care facilities. For the first time, every Commonwealth-funded aged care facility in the country has been visited at least once, and there have been 6,260 resident classification scale visits resulting in the inspection of 36,500 care plans.

Further information on the accreditation process is available on the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency Web site at http://www.accreditation.aust/com/reports or by contacting Julie Marginson (Department of Health and Aged Care. Tel: 0402 284 494.