Corporate News

Submission sent to Royal Commission

Since 2018, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety has given the aged care sector the chance to put in place real reforms. Hall & Prior has submitted its own response to the landmark hearing - and we look forward to the final conclusions being handed down in February 2021.

fter multiple hearings and submissions from aged care organisations A across the country, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is approaching a conclusion – and Hall & Prior has played its part in creating a more accountable aged care sector.

Since the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety began on October 8, 2018, the landmark hearing has given the aged care sector the opportunity for a oncein-a-lifetime chance to put in place real reforms to transform aged care services.

During September, special hearings were held at the Royal Commission, looking into Funding, financing and prudential regulation of aged care. Focusing on identifying

I am proud of how “ the submission has captured the stories and vision of our wonderful residents and staff.

ways to ensure that sector CEO Graeme Prior “ funding not only provided a level of care that met the needs of individuals, the hearings also put a spotlight on establishing accountability in the way that funding was spent. The hearings provided a forum for the presentation and robust discussion about alternate funding models, including how the sustainability of the sector can be streamlined by improving means testing as well as a re-adjustment to the split between government and private funding. There was also significant attention placed on increased accountability from the sector, with a strong focus on improving the reporting currently required of aged care providers. Hall & Prior is an advocate for an aged care sector that not only is appropriately funded to provide high quality care, but is also accountable to the government and community at large as to how this funding is spent.

The relationship between funding, care outcomes and the need for greater sector-wide accountability

Hall & Prior provides care to some of Australia’s most vulnerable people.

were the central themes in a submission that Hall & Prior made to the Royal Commission in October.

Hall & Prior’s submission, titled Residential Aged Care at the Crossroads: Recommendations for Reform was a culmination of the experience gained over Hall & Prior’s 25-plus years in the sector and provided the Commissioners with 20 high priority recommendations. Hall & Prior believe the aged care sector should seek to be a national inspiration. We should seek to demonstrate the world’s best practice and be a sector that allows the entire country to be proud for how we care for our most vulnerable. These recommendations, were identified following a collaborative process involving a wide variety of Clinical and Corporate Managers from across our organisation and covered proposed reforms around workforce, clinical and quality outcomes, vaccinations and organisational governance.

“This was our last opportunity before the final report is written to communicate our vision for the future of the aged care industry directly to the Commissioners,” Hall & Prior CEO Graeme Prior said.

“I am proud of how the submission has captured the stories and vision of our wonderful residents and staff.”

Residential Aged Care at the Crossroads: Recommendations for Reform

Submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety

FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

Hall & Prior Health & Aged Care Organisation 20 October 2020

Hall & Prior’s submission is available on our website, hallprior.com.au. The final report from the Royal Commission is due to be released 26 February 2021.

WHAT IS ESG?

Without a doubt ESG is the new corporate hot topic, but what does it mean to Hall & Prior?

By Beverly Ligman

Environmental Social Governance, or ESG, is becoming increasingly important to businesses across the globe.

It illustrates to the world at large that a company is not only committed to its core business model and making a profit, it is also interested in the bigger picture; contributing positively to the environment, to aligned social causes and conducting its business responsibly.

The appointment of Hall & Prior’s Director of Social and Community Impact Penny Fielding earlier this year means there is now a focus on ESG within the business. Penny has drafted a comprehensive ESG framework to guide us and said she is excited about the future of Hall & Prior. “The core of our business is about heart; ESG helps us celebrate what is already great and make it even better for the future - this is something that we are committed to going forward,” Penny said.

“Already we are a leader in the provision of aged care services in Australia and we believe that our residents are entitled to the highest standards of care with respect, dignity and privacy.

“We also believe that our success is intrinsically linked to our people. “Our ESG Framework helps us strengthen areas of our business with a renewed focus and improve them for staff, residents and the community at large.

“It is aspirational and speaks to the core values we have as a business while also

underpinning the business that we aspire to be in the future. “ESG works across the whole of our business and aims to inspire us as a workforce to be the best we can possibly be in the aged care sector.”

In a practical sense, Penny will now work with our Executive Management teams to incorporate changes across the business which align with the ESG Framework.

“The ESG movement is driven by demand; the modern employee wants to work for a responsible company and investors want to know that there is more to a company than its bottom line. Transparency plays a vital role in ESG as does accountability,” she added.

“I look forward to working with you all to make our ESG framework a success.”

For more information on ESG please contact Penny Fielding on pfielding@hallprior.com.au

BREAKING DOWN ESG

ENVIRONMENT

Includes our broader environment, our new developments and our existing services. This means that we will consider our interaction with our environment in all that we do, we want our new builds to be built in a way that embraces the environment within which they are built and we will do more to ensure our processes and practices minimise the impact on the environment.

SOCIAL

Includes our people, residents and community. This means we value our people, as key contributors to the care we provide and the community we are building. Our residents underpin our whole of person approach to care, wellness and reablement. We want to contribute to the community that we serve, and support community members to contribute to the life of our homes.

GOVERNANCE

Includes our compliance, our performance and our accountability. This means we take our legislative obligations seriously and will continue to comply with these requirements. We will continue to monitor our performance against key benchmarks and metrics. We will publish our performance results and be accountable for the outcomes of our care.

ALL ABOUT PENNY

Working in the health and community service sector for more than 25 years at the senior executive level, Penny holds a Masters in Primary Health Care and an Executive Masters of Public Administration. Following a number of positions across public health and primary health care in Central Australia, Penny moved to Darwin in 2007 to lead the NT Aged and Disability Services.

During that time, she led the implementation of the Disability Services Review. In 2011 she became the Deputy Chief Executive/ Director General, leading the Department of Health’s reform agenda. She played a key role in the implementation of the Alcohol Mandatory Treatment service system and infrastructure and held a leadership role in the Palmerston Regional Hospital development, and financial reform initiatives. Penny then moved back to Perth at work with North Metropolitan Health Services. She has a personal interest in supporting community non-government organisations and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course.

MANAGING RISKS HAS ITS REWARDS

Linda Jackson, Hall & Prior’s Manager of People and Risk, is leaving the Group after a stellar 12 years. Gabi Mills reports. f you cast your mind back to 2008, when the iPhone was released in Australia, we were coming out of the GFC, in a mining boom, and nobody had heard of a certain virus beginning with C, Hall & Prior’s Manager of People and Risk Linda Jackson was beginning her 12-year stint. I understanding of many different strands of legislation and best practice strategies from various bodies like the Aged Care Standards, Fairwork Australia, SafeWork and Australian Standards. Linda believes it’s also just as valuable for the Group’s key staff to have ownership of risk management at a grassroots level.

“I started in an injury management role and had a background in exercise physiology and industrial relations,” says Linda, who is leaving the company in November. “I studied sport science and industrial relations at UWA and didn’t know back then those studies would lead to a role like this.”

Until Linda joined Hall & Prior, the Group had outsourced injury and risk management programs. It was timely, perhaps that a new way of approaching this part of management was brought in-house.

“In my first week, there were nine workplace injuries resulting in workers compensation claims,” she says. “It was probably due in part to the affect the GFC was having on the workforce as a whole – there were quite intense workforce pressures at the time.”

Currently H&P average 30 claims per year (still 30 too many) but greatly reduced, no doubt in large point to the rigour and strategies Linda and her team have introduced. Typically, Linda modestly would suggest an alternative view.

“I’d put that down to much better resourcing of equipment, an increased commitment to psychological and occupational safety. Also the Managers and Directors of Nursing taking more accountability for their staffs’ wellbeing.”

Creating a people and culture (or HR) department which is also responsible for managing risk requires an overarching “We hold a quarterly OSH committee meeting when a representative from each home, nominated by an election process, attends.” Over her 12 years with the Group, Linda has watched the homes’ cultures evolve. Working closely with General Managers Jennifer Grieve in WA and Kris Healy in NSW, she has come to greatly respect the role of the managers and staff. It has been an honour to work with “

such dedicated people

“Hall & Prior managers are great people and to see the Group and its services grow and evolve. “ and deserve all the accolades,” says Linda. “They’re all heroes, often with really inspiring female leadership in action. But it’s all the staff, at all levels, from catering to maintenance, and especially the care teams, who contribute to the Group’s outcomes – compassionate people dedicated to care.” She believes that in terms of culture, staff are listened to more these days, something she’s particularly proud of, and would love to see continue to improve.

“I’m proud that I’ve supported staff to have difficult conversations - and where possible contributed to improved outcomes through clarification and improvement opportunities.”

She also draws pride from helping staff members map their career pathways over the years and hopes there will be an opportunity to reintroduce internships and student placement for prospective nurses and other staff in a COVID-19 safe manner.

In 2018, Linda and her team negotiated with the health care unions a novel clause in an enterprise agreement around flu vaccinations for aged care workers during an outbreak.

“The unions agreed with us to recognise the inherent requirement of aged care workers to be vaccinated,” she says. “It wasn’t mandated but now, thanks to the hard work of Jennifer Grieve and Toni McHale and others who have helped drive this strategy, we achieved some of the highest rates of vaccination in the industry. This year flu vaccination was recognised as a mandatory requirement.” Working closely with unions, which in the early days Linda admits was ‘very adversarial’ has developed into something much more collaborative.

“We now have a very open partnership with the unions,” says Linda. “I’ve been involved with three generations of enterprise agreements and throughout these bargaining periods, we’ve all come to realise that we share a common goal, in that we care for people and must care for each other too.” Undoubtedly, 2020 has been a busy year – not least because the emergence of the threat of a COVID-19 outbreak in the Group’s homes – and has caused some sleepless nights. The Group is in a growth phase, opening Karingal Green during COVID was certainly a challenging time” says Linda. “The Royal Commission has highlighted opportunities for reform which will come into effect over the next few years. The team at Hall & Prior have responded to these challenges with courage and determination.

“I hope that the workforce will be recognised for their professionalism, their care and their services to older Australians and that this recognition will provide for greater career and development opportunities to attract and retain more great people into the sector.” “It has been an honour to work with such dedicated people and to see the Group and its services grow and evolve.”

Jennifer Grieve, Hall & Prior’s General Manager Health and Care Services said the Group would miss Linda’s contribution greatly. “Linda embodies the Hall & Prior way of being a compassionate person dedicated to care. Her consistency of compassion and care for our staff has had that marvellous cascading effect of staff in turn caring for our residents, themselves and each other; it’s a strong legacy she leaves for us.”