12 July, 2023
CCHS acts on failed standards
Two facilities run by Clifton Community Health Services (CCHS), Clifton Nursing Home and Nirvana Hostel, have been found by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to be non-compliant in two of eight standards.
They were both found to be non-compliant in ‘ongoing assessment and planning with consumers’ and ‘organisational governance’.
The site audit performance reports for both facilities were published in February this year.
There were nine other facilities across Queensland found to be non-compliant.
Although Clifton Nursing Home and Nirvana Hostel have two separate reports, they are near-identical.
A site audit was conducted from 17 January to 20 January.
Four ‘areas for improvement’ were identified in the performance report, which must be made to ensure compliance with the Quality Standards.
They are:
Ongoing assessment and planning processes are required to include the consumer to ensure positive outcomes for consumers.
Regular case conferences and care plan reviews with consumers and their representatives ensures the involvement of consumers and the understanding of consumers’ goals, needs and preferences.
Wound management plans are required to contain sufficient information to support effective wound care delivery.
Effective information management systems are required to ensure reportable incidents are identified, lifestyle preferences for consumers are recorded and wound care is delivered.
CCHS Executive Director - Community Rodney Watton said CCHS was excited to receive re-accreditation earlier this year after the audit was conducted.
“As most people are aware the Aged Care sector has been undergoing significant reform and the whole sector has been in state of flux while the reforms have been implemented,” Mr Watton said.
“The auditors found our services to be overwhelmingly compliant with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Standards.
“Two areas received non-compliant assessments both relate to the organisations relatively recent move away from paper-based systems towards the storage of information on Consumer Care Management systems and in internet-based collaboration and administration.
“While disappointing, management were not surprised that some of our administration systems are not fully implemented and accessible across the whole the organisation.
“That said, we have documented our planned continuous improvement to close of these areas off and this has satisfied the commission.
“I would also note that the auditors reported overwhelmingly positive interaction between consumers, family and staff which confirms Clifton Community Health Services well-deserved reputation for high quality care.”
The report found wound care directives were not consistently recorded or monitored to support wound care delivery or review.
“Wound care manage-ment plans were not in pace (sic) for each consumer with an active wound, to provide guidance or information to support staff when delivering wound care,” the report said.
“Clinical oversight of wounds was ineffective, wound evaluations or effectiveness of wound care was not consistently assessed or documented.
“Wound charts were completed to demonstrate wound care was occurring however, the was a lack of documentation to demonstrate the appropriateness of the wound care delivery.”
For one particular patient, there was a delay in monitoring their wound between 29 December and 13 February.
The author of the report was not convinced wound monitoring processes were fully implemented or evaluated for effectiveness.
The author also found the wound list had insufficient guidance for staff to deliver wound care, in particular, staff who were unfamiliar with the consumers.
The six standards CCHS was found compliant in are consumer dignity and choice, personal care and clinical care, services and support for daily living, organisation’s service environment, feedbacks and complaints and human resources.
Mr Watton said as a provider of quality age care, CCHS prides itself on taking a person-centred approach with all consumers.
“In the last quarter, Clifton Nursing Home provided 36 per cent more minutes of personal care on average than the minimum requirements and 23 per cent more minutes of Registered Nursing Care than the Minimum Requirements,” he said.
“This quality of care is evidenced by the reports of our resident’s experience of the quality of the care provided with 83.5 per cent indicating always or most of the time to the quality star rating questions and over 60 per cent responding always to all of the questions.
“Notably 92 per cent of residents reported that they were always treated with respect and that the staff were kind and caring.”
The My Aged Care Star Ratings, last updated on 2 May 2023, gave Nirvana Hostel an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars and Clifton Nursing Home 3 out of 5.
Nirvana Hostel received a rating of 5 for staffing, 4 for residents’ experience and 3 for compliance and for quality measures.
Clifton Nursing Home received 4 stars for staffing, 3 for residents’ experience and for compliance and 2 stars for quality measures.
Mr Watton said since the inception of residential aged care services, the facility has been continuously recognised for its commitment to providing the community with the highest level of quality care and attention to individual needs.
“Clifton Nursing Home’s services and facilities are based on the simple principle: quality and choice of care,” he said.
Clifton Nursing Home has been re-accredited until 21 February 2026 and Nirvana Hostel until 13 May 2026.
The full report can be found by searching for Clifton Nursing Home and Nirvana Hostel on the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s website.
