The Department of Health and Aged Care needs to improve its game if it is to help lead the reform of Australia’s aged care sector, according to the first review of the Government department since 2014.

The 67-page report, released last Friday morning, is the second to be completed under the Federal Government’s reinstated pilot Capability Program and follows a review of the Department by former senior public servants Andrew Tongue and Larry Kamener and Infrastructure deputy secretary David Hallinan.

The report follows the recent Capability Review of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC).

Across its ‘maturity-level’ rating, the Department was found to be ‘Developing’ across 38 out of 50 categories. In 12 areas, its capability was rated as ‘Embedded’.

In no categories was the Department labelled as ‘Leading’.

Among its findings, the Review concluded that the Department had failed to take a leading role in the reform of the health and aged care sectors.

“There is lack of capability in integrated policy development addressing the interactions between the various parts of the health and aged care systems,” it states. “The department is not seen to have put forward systemic reform options to government or lead this discussion with the states, territories and other stakeholders.”

The Reviewers suggest that this in part may be because former Ministers had not asked the Department for this advice and “capability in this area may have declined.”

The Department’s data capabilities were also singled out as lacking, in part because of outsourcing to data consultants.

“While the department was broadly viewed as having highly capable data scientists and analysts, many stakeholders said this capability was not being fully used, in some cases through a lack of willingness to engage in risk,” the Review states.

The Review also pointed to the need for the Government agency to improve its commercial understanding of the various providers it funds – including aged care – so it knows which organisations should be listened to – and which should not.

“The knowledge required includes the economics of the businesses, the distribution curve of providers in terms of performance, and the impact of funding or regulatory changes on the sector.

“Without that knowledge, the department is seen by many to be susceptible to place too much weight on the loudest voices in discussions and negotiations, when they often represent the views of less sophisticated providers or practitioners rather than the average or more sophisticated providers.”

The report identifies nine priority areas for capability improvement, including:

•    More integrated strategic policy development
•    Better use of data to inform policy
•    Building and empowering the mid-level of the Department
You can download the Capability Review here.

The SOURCE: The Aged Care Royal Commission identified the integration of the heath and aged care systems and the Department’s understanding and leadership of the aged care sector as issues four years ago. These are lessons that should have been learnt then.