According to statistics of the new Aged Care Complaints Commissioner’s recent report more than five thousand aged people, their family members, carers or friends and even aged and home care agencies have complained about the service they receive from their care agency in the first six months of operations. In the past the Department of Health handled complaints, but since the new Commissioner Rae Lamb gave a face to the aged care complaints service, the number has increased by 11% from the same period in 2015.
While most problems seem to arise in residential care, 13 % (276) of complaints involved Home Care Packages and 5 % (114) were about the Commonwealth Home Support Program, which includes in-home Respite services for carers. It seems that the new free service with it’s own dedicated website and direct phone number is much easier to navigate for an old person and the separation from the Department of Health takes away the fear of repercussions or loss of services.
Under the Aged Care Act 1997 and the Home Care Standards it is a requirement for all home care and respite providers to advise clients of their right to have access to advocates and other avenues of redress, be given information on how to make a complaint without fear of retribution and have complaints investigated fairly and confidentially.
Clients in home care and respite, especially those living in rural and remote areas, often rely on a small number of available service providers, or where there is no service – which is quite often the case – on family, friends or neighbours to provide personal care, meal preparation, social support or transport, which is why their anxiety to address their problems is very high for fear of loosing the only help they have. This could be one of the reasons why the number of complaints is relatively low as compared to residential care.
It is crucial that aged, palliative or people with disabilities in small and remote farming communities have access to the same in-home services as people in the regional centres. Country Mile Home Care’s mission is to improve access to services for the aging community in rural and remote areas, without penalising people with high travel cost. Please check out CMHC services on this website, Facebook page or contact Ann Young on 0476 035 233 for more information.
Country Mile Home Care complies with the Aged Care Act and the Home Care Standards at all times, and will always encourage their clients to provide feedback about their care experience. Be it positive or negative, we love to hear from you! CMHC strives to provide outstanding flexible and individual support services and will act immediately to address and solve any problem that arises in the best interest of our clients!
If you are an unhappy care recipient you can also use the free call number 1800 550 552 or contact the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner’s office on their website www.agedcarecomplaints.gov.au