A guide to Ananda’s feedback system for residents and staff

Feedback will be STANDARD 6 of the new Aged Care Standards, which we transition to and which come into force on July 1, 2019. Below is a descriptor of what Standard 6 is all about under the New Australian Aged Care Quality Standards.

Consumer (resident) outcome:

(1) I feel safe and am encouraged and supported to give feedback and make complaints. I am engaged in processes to address my feedback and complaints, and appropriate action is taken.

Organisation (Ananda) statement:

(2) The organisation regularly seeks input and feedback from consumers, carers, the workforce and others and uses the input and feedback to inform continuous improvements for individual consumers and the whole organisation.

Purpose and scope of the Standard:

Standard 6 requires an organisation to have a system to resolve complaints. The system must be accessible, confidential, prompt and fair. It should also support all consumers to make a complaint or give feedback. Resolving complaints within the organisation can help build the relationship between the consumer and the organisation. It can also lead to better outcomes.

The Standard covers key elements of effective complaints management system that:

  • encourages consumers to give positive and negative feedback to their organisation about the care and services they receive
  • responds to feedback and complaints consumers and others make formally and informally, written or verbally to the organisation
  • helps organisations keep improving, informs improvements to care and services and
  • resolves issues for consumers and others.

 
Organisations are expected to demonstrate open disclosure. This is in line with up-to-date practices of open communication and transparent processes. It includes acknowledging and apologising when the organisation has made mistakes.
 
Consumers should feel safe and comfortable giving feedback to the organisation. Some consumers have barriers that make it difficult for them to raise complaints. These could be cognitive or communication difficulties, language or cultural differences. The nature of a complaint can also be particularly sensitive or private. Organisations are expected to look for ways to tackle these barriers and create a culture that welcomes feedback and supports consumers to make complaints.

So how does Ananda Aged Care demonstrate this?

At Ananda we take feedback very seriously and acknowledge it comes in many forms. It provides us feedback on what we are doing well, areas we need to work on and opportunities for important.

Feedback comes in many forms:

  • Our “Blue” Feedback form was developed for use by residents, Families/NOK and Staff to assist us in improving care and service delivery.  The feedback forms are available throughout the home next to the locked letter boxes.
  • In October 2018 we introduced a “capturing feedback form” to better capture the verbal feedback from residents, families and next of kin. We spend a lot of time supporting the residents that during all interactions our residents / families provide feedback.  We wanted to further capture this.  All staff can complete these forms and they are located in all nurses stations and by front reception. (See video: how to complete a feedback form below).
  • Email – a lot of families and residents have taken to email to provide feedback.  This provides me with an opportunity to provide timely and “hopefully” resolving interventions.
  • Social Media – Facebook and Instagram are a great way to get to our wider audience and share new about Ananda, introduce our community with our staff and keep everyone connected
  • Newsletters: we do a seasonal newsletter for our residents and families
  • Staff message of the week online – “In the loop” – this is one of our new information platform that comes out everyone Mon/Tues with messages and updates from Management.  Again a great way to stay connected and for us to provide you all with feedback about what we are doing
  • Staff meetings – again a way we present feedback to staff and gather feedback to make a difference or  celebrate our success.
  • WATCH THIS SPACE we are about to debut our new online form …………
How to submit feedback via the blue forms (for residents/visitors) and the white ‘feedback captured’ forms for staff (2 minutes 25 seconds).

Without feedback how do you know  what we are doing well and what we need to improve on?

Together feedback keeps us all informed and ensures we are all working together for the best outcomes for our residents.

Karen Daniels, Director of Nursing.

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