When should you begin your transition to the Strengthened Standards?
We’ve been working with a number of Providers over the last few months on their transition to the new Strengthened Standards / SACQS.
So, what’s our approach? Our process begins with our Discovery Audit to identify where there are gaps. Followed by Bootcamp to intensively educate and build your PCI plans, and then our Executive Program supports and guides through that process.
We’ve also recently launched our Strengthened Standards Transition Community – a free online community for Providers to learn and share experiences – you can join here https://go.providerassist.com.au/standardstransitioncommunity! With the community approaching 200 organisations, it shows us that there is enormous appetite for getting started on this transition in order to be ready when the change occurs.
Is it too early to start preparing for the transition? We are still encountering a small handful of Providers who are reluctant to begin transitioning because they believe the standards are not finalised. In late July 2024, Hello Leaders contacted the Department of health & Aged Care to provider an update – and the confirmation is that the new Strengthened Standards continue to be expected to roll out with the new Aged Care Act on July 1, 2025 (see article here : https://helloleaders.com.au/article/tick-tock-are-the-new-quality-standards-going-to-be-released-on-time)
"The strengthened Standards have been finalised and will come into effect in line with the commencement of the new Aged Care Act"
(https://www.theweeklysource.com.au/aged-care/new-quality-standards-will-come-into-effect-with-new-aged-care-act-department-confirms).
At the same time, it was confirmed that Providers will be assessed against the new Strengthened standards from day 1 and there won’t be any grace period to adjust. In fact, we’ve heard of many Provider experiences, that visits are now assessing against the new standards on visits now in order to prepare for the transition themselves.
The impact of waiting? You will simply run out of time.
- When we breakdown and compare the Strengthened Standards against the current Standards, we can see that of the 146 actions in the Strengthened Standards, only 35 actions directly align with the current standards or existing requirements. 92 actions clarify existing requirements, and 19 actions are completely new concepts or significantly enhanced expectations. Many of the required changes are not simple fixes and will require a systemised approach to manage the change. Like any change management process, this will take time, resources and cost.
- If we consider the concepts of care that is trauma aware and healing informed in accordance with contemporary, evidenced based practice (action 1.1.2e), we can see that there are multiple layers within an organisation to embed these concepts. Policies, Procedures and systems will need to be reviewed and amended, implementation strategies commenced, documentation, assessments and care plans reviewed and amended, and education provided to ensure the action is met. All of these facets need to be planned, resourced and actioned, and this is only looking at one area of change.
So, to answer my original question – when should you begin your transition to the Strengthened Standards?
The answer is now.
So where to start?
Transition Strategy
1. Identify
Where are you at on your transition timeline and what’s left to do? The best place to start is to gauge how far along you are in transitioning your policies and procedures and other documentary records is where it all starts. Prepare for transition by developing a plan based on identified gaps. We know that at this stage of the transition, most organisations have many gaps and a long list of actions. We recommend clustering actions into groups, so that change can be effectively project managed. For example, group by theme or outcome.
2. Action
Group actions into clusters, this allows for a more streamlined approach to the management of required actions from a project management perspective and allows for like items or areas of heightened risk to be actioned systematically and methodically. For each cluster or group, consider the actions needed to rectify the required documentation, the education required to embed the knowledge, and finally the changes to practice.
3. Evaluate
Ensure that the changes made are effective and meet the needs of the site. It is vital that on a continuing basis the site and team are doing what your documentation and policies state. Ensure that processes are not set and forget, where we let things slip as we change our focus to different areas.
4. Review
Changes made to documentation and process need to be fully embedded into the systems and practices of the site to ensure that they remain effective and meet the needs of all stakeholders of the service. Ongoing review of outcomes plays a key role in ensuring that we can demonstrate that we are doing what we say we are.
5. Maintain & Monitor
Quality and alignment to the SACQS is not a one-off process. Vigilant and ongoing monitoring is vital and core component of ensuring that the transition strategy undertaken is effectively maintained.
Mathew Brincat - Chief Clinical Officer
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