CILCA360 predicts Aged Care Quality Standard failures

Abby Hunt explains how CILCA360 predicts failures in performance against the Aged Care Quality Standards.

Let me be clear, the intention of sharing this story isn’t to use the threat of possible ‘un-mets’ or sanctions from quality audits to grab your attention, but to show how, when we listen to the signals our people give us, sites can not only proactively avoid ‘un-mets’, but also increase staff engagement and achieve better outcomes.

By signals, I mean the messages staff and leaders at various levels give through mechanisms like team meetings, performance reports, refusal of rosters, and through surveys.

This story is an example of messages, feedback and insights made available through a leadership 360 capability and impact assessment.

In this instance, a leading aged care provider with over 20 aged care and disability facilities, wasn’t looking for signals about the possibility of ‘un-mets’, they were looking to develop the capability of its leaders, specifically a cohort of Service Managers and Registered Nurses.

This came off the back of an internal survey that identified that many of them felt overwhelmed, unsure of where to focus, constant changes and questioning their ability to be successful as leaders in their roles.

These leaders were assessed on their current and desired future performance against five leadership domains and the Aged Care Quality Standards (Quality Standards). Strengths and gaps in performance were identified based on feedback from the individual’s manager, their peers, their direct reports as well as their own self-rating.

The assessment used:

• Is a valid and reliable leadership assessment tool correlated to the Australian Aged Care Leadership Capability Framework.
• Incorporated identifying gaps in the Quality Standards.
• Reveals impacts of leadership capability on those around them, including psychological safety.

What did they discover? There were significant performance gaps against the Quality Standards identified in the results of several leaders at the site, particularly against Standards 2 (Ongoing Assessment and Planning), 3 (Personal Care and Clinical Care), 7 (Human Resources) and 8 (Organisational Governance).

How did the organisation respond to these signals/insights? Unfortunately, the organisation failed to act on the predictive results uncovered by the CILCA360 assessments. Preoccupied with responding to other issues and later to the COVID-19 crisis, a year down the track no actions to address these red flags had been taken.

It wasn’t until they received a series of ‘un-met’ ratings against the Quality Standards at a number of their facilities in an audit conducted by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner that they stopped and reflected on what they could have done differently to prevent the ‘un-mets’ and realised that the CILCA360 results were lead indicators all along.

Failing to meet the Quality Standards will have a huge cost for this aged care provider, not only financially but also to their reputation, the time and energy to investigate and rectify the issue. The stress of an ‘un-met’ rating reaches beyond those holding direct responsibility, trickling down to the front-line staff. Engagement and motivation are negatively impacted.

What was the opportunity here? The CILCA360 assessment is an effective predictive tool for when an organisation is at risk of receiving an ‘un-met’ rating or a sanction against the Quality Standards. In this case, the data highlighting the gaps against the Quality Standards was there, yet an opportunity to directly address this risk was missed.

Best practice would have been to engage its leaders and workforce in a journey to uncover why these ratings occurred and how it could address these to avoid a negative audit finding and deliver the quality of care that makes them proud. Obtaining the data is one thing, using it to effect real positive change within an organisation is another.

How can you get early warning signals and get on the front foot? Use a confidential, valid and reliable feedback mechanisms, listen and respond in a timely manner!

Right now – the CILCA360 is subsidised for front line leaders, those who have the biggest impact on quality outcomes!

Abby Hunt is Co-Founder of DataDrivesInsight.com (DDI)

Abby is a leadership coach and psychologist, with close to 20 years’ worth of experience working as a trusted advisor within the aged, community, disability, health care sector. Abby’s unique position in the industry allowed her to create a suite of valid, reliable assessment tools that support leadership, culture and capability specifically within the care sector.

Abby is well aware of the challenges this sector faces and is passionate about developing leadership capability, supporting frontline care staff right through to the Directors, CEO and Board. Abby is motivated by people overcoming these challenges and linking her first-hand experience with valid and reliable data to look at the best ways to address them, improving personal and work satisfaction.

Most recent achievements include the publication of Abby’s first book: Excellence in Leadership, Culture & Safety In The Care Industry: 10 Critical Insights Every Care Leader Needs To Know To Deliver On Their Purpose.

To find out more, visit https://www.datadrivesinsight.com/