Inside home care: AHCS staffer looks to rapidly changing scene

AHCS Business Development Manager for New South Wales, Kthryn Bondoc, shares her knowledge and experience as she considers current changes in aged care and the roll out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The home care industry is rapidly changing with the Aged Care Reform and National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) driving major changes.

These major reforms implement key concepts such as ‘Consumer Directed Care’ and ‘Choice and Control’ within service delivery where consumer choice is promoted at the centre of care delivery.

This requires a significant shift from service providers to ensure they are meeting the evolving program guidelines, serving the needs of thousands of newly-eligible consumers and delivering on increasing expectations of quality from their clients.

Meanwhile, aged care and disability sectors are both experiencing significant growth, with an increase in funding in 2016-2017.  This additional funding enables the delivery of much-needed services and support for many people across Australia in both metro and regional areas.

This increase in funding and opening of the aged and disability markets has created an opportunity for new and existing providers.

As services continue to evolve and expand, there is a demand for skilled staff to deliver in-home care, case manage, coordinate and oversee services.  Many more staff are needed.

AHCS is responding to this challenge with innovative approaches to evolving our service.  We work closely with Registered Training Organisations to find innovative solutions to workforce challenges.  We even have our own staff playing a part in securing new recruits with an innovative candidate referral program.

I anticipate all these changes will benefit consumers.  As consumers become more aware of the services offered and their rights, their expectations about the quality of services they receive will increase.

Both the aged and disability reforms allow clients to direct their care and at the very least, view the financial transactions related to the care they receive.  This transparency and facilitation of choice empowers consumers to manage their home care services in new ways, raise expectations of quality and delivers greater control to clients.  In fact, the concept of quality will be redefined by consumers themselves.

Taken together, these changes make for a very exciting time to work in this sector as I contribute to our business model development and service delivery processes in what is effectively a new marketplace.

AHCS strives to provide quality services and keep the consumer at the centre of their care.  We’re rightly proud of our robust Quality Framework which includes a Client Reference Group which helps shape our work in line with consumer expectations. Our consumer feedback system, using the Net Promoter Score, keeps service managers aware of lead and lag indicators while our Client Service Managers advocate for the individual needs of our clients in a changing industry.