Aged care regulator denies serious incident cases are closed without investigation

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner, Janet Anderson, has denied serious incident cases are being closed without investigation, a claim made in The Saturday Paper over the weekend.

“The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission assesses every serious incident notification submitted by an aged care provider,” Janet said in a statement to The SOURCE. “What is being claimed in the article about our process, how we do our assessments and the actions we take in response to notifications is not accurate.” The Saturday Paper reported the regulator is struggling to keep up with the 5,000 serious incident cases coming through the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) every month, resorting to closing 15,500 cases without investigation, and providing cut-and-paste notes.

The article also said large number of new staff have been employed at the regulator to keep up with the demand to assess cases, but many lack suitable qualifications. The Commissioner told The SOURCE, “The Commission’s SIRS assessors undertake a comprehensive training program on commencement.  “Staff also have access to subject matter experts across the Commission if needed. Ongoing role specific training is also delivered.”

The Aged Care Royal Commission called for the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to be abolished and replaced by an independent Aged Care Safety and Quality Authority, saying the Commission was “overly concerned with processes, not focused enough on outcomes, and does not provide enough safeguards to protect older people and provide reassurance to their families”.

The Capability Review of the regulator, released last month, indicated the regulator’s complaints system needs to be “urgently reviewed”. In May, Louise Macleod, former senior assistant Commonwealth ombudsman, was appointed Senior Complaints Commissioner at the Commission.

The SOURCE: The quality of aged care services depends on an effective regulator.