Review of National Aged Care Quality Regulatory Processes - Public Submissions

Overview

The Australian Government has commissioned an independent review of Commonwealth aged care quality regulatory processes (the Review). The Review was announced in response to the Oakden Report (attached below) which detailed failures in the quality of care delivered at the Oakden Older Persons Mental Health Service in South Australia (Oakden).

The Review is being led by Ms Kate Carnell AO in conjunction with Professor Ron Paterson ONZM. Ms Carnell is a veteran public administrator and regulator and Professor Paterson is an international expert on patients’ rights, complaints, health care quality and the regulation of healthcare professions.

The focus of the Review is on aged care quality processes such as accreditation, monitoring, review, investigation, complaints and compliance. The Terms of Reference provide further information on the scope of the Review (attached below).

The Review will examine why regulatory processes did not adequately identify the systemic and longstanding failures of care at the Makk and McLeay wards at Oakden. It will also examine what is working well with the regulatory system and where improvements are needed to increase the likelihood of immediate detection and swift remediation by providers of failures of care.

The Review is not intended to investigate and resolve individual cases – that is the role of the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner. 

Why your views matter

We want to hear from you.

The experiences of aged care recipients, their families and carers, aged care organisations, staff of organisations, and other professionals in the aged care sector and related sectors are critical for the Review. Your views will help identify opportunities to improve Commonwealth regulatory processes so that people in residential aged care facilities are safe, well cared for and have a good quality of life.

What happens next

Your feedback and comments provided through this survey is being used by the reviewers to prepare a report on Commonwealth regulatory practices relating to monitoring the quality and standard of care in residential aged care facilities.

The report will identify why regulatory processes did not adequately identify the systemic and longstanding failures of care at the Makk and McLeay wards at Oakden. It will also provide recommendations on ways to improve regulatory processes to increase the likelihood of immediate detection and swift remediation by providers of failures of care.

The report is due to the Australian Government by 31 August 2017.