Prioritising challenges and building solutions – Pinaroo Roma Inc

Tell us about the challenges being addressed:
Being a rural facility, we were facing change in top management positions and difficulty finding a Clinical Manager; and changing our Clinical Management System (CMS). We had to change our CMS quickly due to unforeseen concerns with our current system and didn’t have the manpower to transfer the data or ensure that we were up to date with care plans and clinical documentation. As Facility Manager, I was covering the CM position in addition to managing the facility and we were not meeting our 24 hour nursing requirements or our mandatory care minutes.

Tell us about the solution put in place:
We engaged the Partner in Care service for six weeks until all of our clinical documentation was up to date and reflective of the care being given. We also had an experienced Clinical Manager from PA who supported me through the period that we engaged our new Clinical Manager and spent invaluable time with our new CM teaching her the role and the expectations of her position. We are now up to date with all of our systems and no longer fear a visit from the ACQSC. Our new CM has been able to start her position with a clean slate and maintain rather than fix and has systems set up to ensure she keeps on top of things.

Tell us about your experience:
We have had a history with PA for a few years now and we had utilised their services for support with our ACFIs and transitioning to AN-ACC. We also utilise their Executive package that gives us support with our Medicare payment statements and understanding our resident accommodation costs. We had built strong relationships with the PA team and when it became evident that we weren’t coping and this had started to affect Resident care, I immediately reached out to Amy for help. Amy helped me to prioritise our immediate issues and worked with me to put a plan into place to improve these issues promptly. Within a week, we had a highly skilled PA RN onsite who started working with us to get our clinical assessments, care plans and documentation up to date. PA finds immediate solutions to problems and manages these in a timely manner -it was instant relief for me to know that PA can provide nurses who know exactly what to do and fit into the team as soon as they arrive on site. Every PA team member we have had at Pinaroo are genuine, compassionate nurses with experience in aged care and work efficiently, giving 100% to ensure they have everything completed to a high standard.

Would you recommend the Partner in Care Service and our Provider Assist Specialists?
Yes, of course. If we see cracks starting to appear, changes to management or the workload becoming too much for our current team, I would not hesitate to use this service again. It is an immediate solution and knowing it is there and I can ask for assistance at any time, helps me sleep better at night!