The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner has hit out at media articles published over the weekend claiming reports of the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) contained in the publications carried misleading information
In a letter to the Editor of News Corporation, the Commissioner Janet Anderson (pictured) said she was disappointed that misleading information on the SIRS had been included in the articles.
“Such reports undermine the community’s trust and confidence in the major reforms being implemented to drive improved safety and quality in aged care,” Commissioner Anderson said.
“Use of inflammatory language to characterise the alleged, suspected and known serious incidents reported to the Commission is irresponsible and misleading,” she said.
“As has been the situation in the Australian health system for the last two decades, each serious incident reported in an aged care setting must be understood in terms of the specific details about what happened, how and why it happened, and what the aged care provider did immediately and is doing following the incident to minimise its impact and ensure it does not reoccur.”
Commissioner Anderson said serious incidents affecting aged care residents had been reportable under legislated requirements introduced from April this year.
She said that under the SIRS, all aged care providers must have policies, trained staff and processes in place to effectively manage and mitigate the risks that came with providing care to older Australians.
“The Commission reviews all incident notifications within 24 hours of receipt and will take action if it is determined that there is an ongoing risk of harm to residents and/or the aged care provider has not dealt with the incident appropriately,” she said.
In relation to statements made in the articles about access to information on aged care services, Commissioner Anderson said such information was readily available on the Government’s MyAgedCare website.
She said every provider listed on the site was regulated by the Commission and “the regulatory actions we take are reflected in compliance ratings of services published on the website”.
“Performance assessment reports for individual services are published on the Commission’s website and may also be a useful reference point for those looking for aged care services,” she said.
“The Commission publishes SIRS Insights reports to promote transparency, inform discussion and influence provider behaviour by driving continuous improvement in the delivery of quality and safe aged care.”
Commissioner Anderson said anyone who had concerns about the care and services being provided at an aged care service should contact the Commission on 1800 951 822 or its website at this PS News link.
