Community
13 June, 2024
Dedicated staff earn Mt View five-stars, re-accreditation
A SMALL south west aged care facility is punching above its weight, meeting legislative and reporting requirements at the highest level, with a recent review placing it in the top 2.75 per cent of aged care providers in Australia.
Terang and Mortlake Health Service’s (TMHS) Mt View aged care facility was successful in the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission re-accreditation, and also received a five-star rating for the care it provides.
TMHS director of nursing Melissa Mitchell said the achievements were “significant”.
“We have always had a strong focus on the quality of the care we provide and are constantly measuring and reflecting on it to ensure Mt View residents receive the best possible care.”
“We’re a small service provider with limited resources and yet we are providing care and meeting legislative and reporting requirements at the highest level.” she said.
Ms Mitchell said the result was a credit to the small team of staff who go above and beyond to deliver consistent and quality care for Mt View residents.
“We don’t have a huge team working on just meeting the standards,” she said.
“What we do have is a small team who have a really thorough knowledge of everyone we care for and what is important to them.”
Ms Mitchell said the latest re-accreditation and results would also help Mt View to attract new residents and prospective employees, as nationwide staff shortages continued.
“A service that provides high quality care is definitely an attractive place to work,” she said.
“Prospective staff know that if care standards are high, it means staff are well supported and equipped to do their work.”
The five-star rating helped families and potential residents make informed decisions according to Ms Mitchell.
“When people are looking for residential care for themselves or a loved one, a fully-accredited service who maintains a high four- or five-star rating is always preferable to one that has had findings against it or whose star rating is low in areas such as staffing levels, quality measures or resident experience,” she said.
Ms Mitchell said in 2023, Mt View participated in a Pilot Audit of the draft strengthened Aged Care Standards as part of the new Aged Care Act, which is expected to be introduced in the coming year.
“As a small provider this was a terrific opportunity to test ourselves,” she said.
“We didn’t do any special preparation for the pilot so we could use it as a bit of a template for when we had an unannounced visit.
“We were thrilled to find that we met all the strengthened standards, which made us feel quietly confident we were on the right path.”
Ms Mitchell credited the Mt View staff for the excellent care and attention residents received.
“All our staff are incredibly dedicated to the people who live at Mt View,” she said.
“They’re always looking for ways to improve the residents’ experience.
“It’s not just the clinical care and the wonderful nursing staff, it’s also our lifestyle, environmental, catering and maintenance staff.”
Ms Mitchell said she was continually “blown away” by the willingness of staff to do the little things which make a big difference to the residents.
“From the maintenance guy who sings to them, the catering person who sewed new tablecloths for the dining room and the cleaner who brought in one of her prized orchids for the residents to enjoy,” she said.
“Walking into Mt View and seeing someone sitting up with their hair done just so, a jaunty little scarf on and laughing with other residents and staff makes me so happy. That’s when you know we are getting it right.
“Everyone has contributed to these results but I would like to acknowledge our previous quality manager Gaye Sanderson who did a lot of work over the years to ensure we kept up to date with all the reporting requirements.”
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is the Aged Care Services national regulator.
Part of its role is to measure whether facilities are providing care that aligns with the Aged Care Quality Standards.
The eight quality standards provide a framework for care that is safe, high quality and meets people's needs and preferences.
Ms Mitchell said in the past it was informed of a scheduled surveyors’ visit but since the Aged Care Royal Commission and its reforms, accreditation was completed during unannounced visits.
She said the star rating system was introduced as a way for members of the public and those seeking aged care to identify how well the services met residents’ care needs.
“The rating is dependent on things such as the amount of time staff spend with residents, how residents feel about their care and the quality of care provided,” Ms Mitchell said.
“The latest successful re-accreditation comes just months after TMHS was named one of Victoria’s top-five best performing health services, recognised for its workplace culture.”