From October 1, 2024, all aged care providers are encouraged by the government to provide their clients with written or verbal monthly care statements, outlining individual health updates such as wellbeing and medication changes.
Providers who want to provide monthly care statements voluntarily from October 1, 2024, are asked to register on the Department of Health and Aged Care website for additional support and relevant updates.
The Australian Government has yet to decide when providing monthly care statements will be made mandatory.
However, if certain activities related to monthly care statements are completed by a registered nurse, enrolled nurse or personal care worker, the time can contribute to care minutes.
This includes on-site clinical reviews of the statements, verbal delivery of the statements and any follow-up conversations and activities, according to the Department of Health and Aged Care.
In addition to the voluntary implementation of the statements on October 1, 2024, the Department of Health and Aged Care will require that every resident receives an average 215 minutes of care in aged care homes, including 44 minutes of direct care from a registered nurse. This will be an increase from 200 minutes of care per resident daily in which 40 minutes of care must be given by a registered nurse, as is required currently.
Director of Resident Experience and Food Policy in the Department of Health and Aged Care Katy Roberts explained the reasoning for the implementation of monthly care statements.
“The statements are first and foremost for residents. In some circumstances, the statements may go to the resident’s representative or family member,” she said.
“Monthly care statements keep residents, their families and representatives up to date about their care. They also improve communication between providers and residents and their representatives about the resident’s health, well-being and care needs.”
Older Persons Advocacy Network Chief Executive Officer Craig Gear highlighted that while the monthly care statements are important, they should not be the only way to communicate with residents and their families.
“Monthly statements strike a balance between regular mapping of changes in an older person’s aged care needs and the capacity of providers to produce these statements in a format that is user-friendly,” he said.
“They are about enhancing communication and should not be seen as a substitute for aged care providers’ regular care planning activities.
“Older people want relationship-focused care, not transactional care. If providers have
the appropriate systems to support and enable staff to get to know each older person as
well as their family and friends, the monthly care statements should hold no surprises.”
Verbal and written monthly care statements can be provided from October 1, 2024, with government support and updates on what to include in the statements.
However, trials will also be commencing to provide the government with information on how providers can best implement electronic statements to residents and their families.
Providers of aged care are encouraged to express their interest in the software trial of monthly statements, with expressions of interest closing on October 8, 2024.
This software pilot will run from February to April 2025 and will include feedback from selected providers through interviews and surveys to determine the best methods to execute online monthly care statements.
Although the implementation of electronic statements will occur later in the future, Ms Roberts also explained how providers will be impacted by the current change and that aged care workers may require additional training related to the monthly care statements.
“[Providers will] need to train and support [their] staff around the new requirements and think about [their] internal quality assurance processes and how they can ensure the statements are always accurate and up to date,” she said.
“This means you’ll need to consider secure storage for physical statements and may need to consider electronic protection for digital statements.”
Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Council of the Ageing Corey Irlam highlighted that the new changes could help foster communication and improve the quality of life for older Australians.
“Please don’t think of these monthly care statements as compliance. Think of them as an opportunity to help improve communication with older people,” he said.
A trial of monthly care statements was completed in November 2023, in which 40 aged care homes participated. Residents who participated in the pilot ‘saw benefit in sharing the statements with their family, which improved communication about their care’ and could see how the statements could effectively contribute to planning their future care.
Aged care workers and providers should be aware that these monthly care statements are different from the monthly statements that are provided to recipients of Home Care Packages.
Instead of providing information about a person’s care, Home Care Package monthly statements contain details that ‘show their available funds, how the funds are being spent and the amount of unspent funds.’
For assistance and advice regarding aged care concerns, please call the Older Persons Advocacy Network on 1800 700 600 or visit their website at opan.org.au.
