March 2001

Accreditation - the means not the end!

The first round of accreditation is now complete in Queensland. The QNU remains concerned about standards in some aged care facilities and we reiterate our previous comments that accreditation must not be seen as the end of the process.

While most aged care facilities in Queensland approached the accreditation process by making changes and developing further plans for implementation, we are aware that there are a small but significant number of facilities which relied on their plans for change in order to obtain accreditation.

Now that accreditation has been achieved in these facilities it is essential that nurses take a proactive role in ensuring the changes outlined in order to achieve accreditation are actually put in place.

Many nurses in aged care continue to struggle with onerous workloads. We are aware that some employers are attempting to shrug off concerns about workloads by nurses by claiming that the fact they achieved accreditation means there are no problems at those facilities.

This obviously cannot be the case in those establishments which achieved accreditation based on their written plans rather than their actual practices at the time of accreditation.

The QNU has taken up Minister Bronwyn Bishop's call for poor standards to be reported and there have been a number of instances where the QNU has reported poor practices and improvements have resulted.

Members in aged care are encouraged to report any examples of poor practices, failure to implement undertakings given to achieve accreditation and instances where practices have changed for the worse following the achievement of accreditation. The QNU can take up these issues and provide members with assistance on reporting such matters to the appropriate authorities.