The Department of Health and Aged Care has released a Consultation Paper on the home care Quality Indicator (QI) Program, revealing that the program will not begin until after 1 July 2026.
"To minimise the impact on the sector, it is proposed that the QI Program be implemented 12 months after the implementation of the Support at Home program (1 July 2026).
"This will allow sufficient time for providers to meet the new Support at Home arrangements and for implementation to be bedded down," the 'Establishment of a National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program for in-home aged care services' paper states.
The proposed QIs are:
1. Consumer experience
2. Quality of life
3. Function
4. Service delivery/care planning
5. Workforce
6. Weight loss/nutrition, and
7. Falls/fractures/injury
It's proposed that only a small number of QIs will be implemented initially ("as few as one but no more than three") and that data collected "for a period of time" before a decision is made about expanding the program or publishing the data.
Home care QIs were a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
The closing date for feedback is 9 July 2024. You can read the consultation paper here.
