Septe mber 2011 bentley park resident newsletter For the main meal …..
Across My Desk CEO’s Report The menu for August was a very full one indeed, with heaps happening on our site and also within the Aged Care sector. For the entree …..
The final Productivity Commission Report released. The much awaited Productivity Commission Report – “Caring for Older Australians” was released on the 8th August. This report recommends a raft of sweeping changes to the way the Aged Care sector will operate in the future. It is a bold 5 year plan, that will bring a strong element of consumer directed care and consumer choice into the sector, plus it will provide a much more enhanced funding model that is more appropriately aligned to the actual cost of providing care to our residents, both in a residential and community care environment. The only thing however with major reviews such as this, is that it still needs the Government to act upon the recommendations. The present Government is making the right kinds of noises, but for something that is so major and foreshadows fundamental changes to the entire Aged Care sector, a true bipartisan support will be needed from all sides of Government. Let’s hope we are not let down by political games and grandstanding. It is truly time for united action, and this Productivity Commission report provides an excellent platform to provide real change that will improve the Aged Care sector for all current and future generations.
Security Number If the Resident Support Services number is unavailable residents are reminded the mobile contact number for Security is:
0413 388 650
Independent Residents Quality of Service Evaluation Survey. Every day of the year, SwanCare Group employees attend work with the express aim of hoping to make a genuine and sincere difference to the people whom we look after … our residents. We think we do a pretty good job, and I know that our staff are genuinely trying to do their best for our residents at every opportunity. But, how do we actually know that we are doing a good job? One of the best and effective ways of finding out this answer, is to actually ask you, and during August this is exactly what we did. We sent out some 500 survey questionnaires to our Independent Living residents, and we were very pleased to receive back 246 replies. This is almost a 50% response, which for a voluntary survey is a good response and certainly ensures in our mind that the answers we received are reflective of the entire resident population. We asked 6 main categories of questions focusing on the following key areas : 1. The Quality of our Administration services that we provide to you. 2. How we handle your complaints and general issues. 3. The Health and Support services that we provide in the village. 4. The Recreation and Lifestyle services and amenities available to you. 5. The quality of our general services such as Security, Transport, Maintenance and Gardening. 6. Your feedback on the building developments and the changes that are happening on our Bentley Park site. We also took the opportunity to ask you an open ended question about the kind of new and improved services and facilities that you would like to see introduced into your village. This provided some very interesting responses, and this data will be used by the Board and Management as key input into the up-coming Strategic Planning workshop that we are holding on the 23rd September. Obviously a lot of what was asked for will
Bentley Park Events Office Stratton Luncheon Concert - September 2 Auditorium Concert - September 11
cost substantial money and with everything it is about balance and establishing the best use and value for our money. A full list of the Top 10 wish list items is provided below.
The Bentley Park TOP 10 most wanted …… 1. Heated swimming pool and/or spa/hydro pool. 2. Recycling - seen to be Green. 3. More (better) parking for cars, residents and visitors. 4. A chapel or dedicated quiet space. 5. More resident support service staff. 6. A better external look for the next stage of the development. 7. More seating and relaxing areas around the village. 8. Another SwanMobile - a non-stop service. 9. An indoor gymnasium. 10. Spritz to have better atmosphere and ambiance - more welcoming. Overall, the survey has brought to light some very positive results, highlighting areas of strength, as well as helping identify areas where we can improve. I was particularly proud to note that in all six categories we achieved a majority response that indicated our quality of service was either “outstanding” or “very good”. To extract just one highlight, 90% of residents believed that the quality of our Administrative support to you was exceptional. This is very positive feedback, and I know that the staff were very pleased with this result, and makes them proud to know that their hard work is appreciated by our residents. The graphs over the page provide a summary of the responses received. I would like to thank all residents that took the time to participate in this survey. Your feedback and honest comments are a vital ingredient in helping us improve what we do and shape the future of our village for not only our current residents, but also for the many future Continued Page 3 generations to come.
Inside this issue > Resident Survey Results - pg 3 Bentley Park Events Office - pg 4 Bentley Park News - pg 5 What’s On - pg 6-7 Residents Advisory Council - pg 8