ABC South East NSW with Jennifer Hunt
E & OE
FIFIELD:
We’re adding some new features to the My Aged Care Gateway from the first of July. Principal of which is something called the Regional Assessment Service where for the first time, people will have the opportunity to have one place to go to in order to get assessed for entry level supports for the aged care system.
HUNT:
So when you say one place, you’re referring to one geographic site?
FIFIELD:
One gateway, which is both online at myagedcare.gov.au, it’s also on the end of a phone line where you can talk to a real person at 1800 200 422. What happens from there is that some initial questions are asked and then an appointment is arranged for a face-to-face assessment with a Regional Assessment Service. Previously, each home and community care provider would do their own assessments, what we’re doing is separating assessments from service delivery.
HUNT:
And what’s the rationale behind that separation?
FIFIELD:
It’s good practice to have a separation between the organisation that assesses what someone needs and the organisations that are actually in the business of delivering services. What we want to have is a much more consistent assessment of someone’s needs, whether it be the need for meals, whether it been for some other in home supports. So that we’ve got a real consistency and so that people know that there’s one place to go to. They can go to the My Aged Care gateway and they can get all of the advice and assistance that they need.
HUNT:
In terms of this new regional assessment process, is that in place right around the country?
FIFIELD:
It’s in place right around the country and came into effect from the first of July. The aged care system can be very difficult for people to navigate. Historically, people haven’t really known where to start. With the My Aged Care gateway there’s just one place to go to. They can be given all the advice and support that they need. They can be given advice as to, what’s the right sort of supports for them. Is it just some basic home supports to keep them at home? Should they be referred to an ACAT assessment team to see if they need more intensive home supports in the form of a home care package? Or, do they really need residential aged care? So there are three prime elements of the aged care system, there’s the basic levels of home support, there’s more intensive home care packages and there’s residential aged care. And the My Aged Care gateway is the one-stop-shop for people who are thinking, look I might need a bit more help.
HUNT:
So the ACAT, the Aged Care Assessment Teams, they will still be operating, but the Regional Assessment Service comes in first?
FIFIELD:
The Aged Care Assessment Team’s will be there, there to assess people who have higher level needs, so people who need more intensive support in home, which is delivered by way of a home care package. The ACAT teams also do the assessments for people who might need to go into residential care. What the Regional Assessment Service will do, is really have an ACAT-style assessment for an individual who needs that basic level of support at home. We haven’t previously had anything as comprehensive as that. For people who need basic levels of support at home, it’s been individual service providers who’ve been doing the assessments. And while they might be good at assessing the need for the particular services that they provide, it’s a good thing to have a comprehensive assessment service that can look at the full range of needs that someone might have.
HUNT:
In terms of putting in place the Regional Assessment Service, you’re saying that, that is now up and running from the first of July?
FIFIELD:
That’s right. From the first of July. We put up the Regional Assessment Service arrangements for tender. There are 13 providers who’ve been successful around the country. And many of those providers have formed consortiums with local organisations to deliver those services.
HUNT:
I know it’s early days since these latest changes have come in but what has been the response from service providers and indeed clients of these services?
FIFIELD:
Well it’s been fairly quiet which is probably a good sign. If things weren’t going well, no doubt we would’ve heard about it. Look I’m expecting to have feedback over the coming weeks. There no doubt will be some initial teething issues, so I’m very keen to hear from people, from individuals and from providers, as to what their experience has been. So if there is the need to make some tweaks and some changes, we can do that.
HUNT:
It’s clear from the way the new process will work, in terms of the portal and the emphasis on electronic referrals and electronic records that there may be some concerns around the security of that data. Are you confident that all the right procedures are in place?
FIFIELD:
Yes I think so. We’re essentially putting in place the same sorts of protocols that apply in the Medicare system for people’s information. So there are well-established protocols, we’re not seeking to reinvent the wheel, we’re very keen to protect people’s information. But it’s a positive thing in the new system that there will be a more central record of the information that people have–of the different assessments that they’ve have, of the referrals that have been made on their behalf–so that hopefully, people don’t have to go through the exercise of answering the same questions all over again every time they make contact with the gateway.
HUNT:
One of the main issues raised with us at a regional level from service providers is a shortage of resources when it comes to the aged care sector. Will any of these developments potentially lead to additional resourcing.
FIFIELD:
Well we’re always, year by year, increasing the resources for the aged care sector. The Commonwealth Government, on behalf of the taxpayer, puts about $15 billion into the aged care system, largely by way of subsidy. We’re increasing the number of home care packages over time, and I think that they’ll be a bit of a rebalancing over the years ahead between what goes to residential aged care, and what goes into home care support, because about only five per cent of people over 65 receive their supports in a traditional residential aged care setting. Increasingly, the desire of people is to stay at home, receive their supports at home and to be at home for as long as possible.
HUNT:
Those pesky baby-boomers, they’re going to come through and change things!
FIFIELD:
Well, and look they’ll change them in a good way. I think the expectations of people who are ageing are greater than they were in years gone by. They want to have a say in the sorts of services that they receive and one of the good things that we announced in the recent Budget was that from February 2017 home care packages, which have historically attached to service providers, we’re going to be attaching the home care packages to individuals. So that if an individual isn’t happy with the service that they’re getting, they can take that and go to another provider.