In July, Aurrum Erina in New South Wales passed its accreditation site audit with flying colours, meeting all 44 outcomes.
Accreditation is about ensuring residential aged care residences meet a set of quality standards set by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency, relating to the care provided to residents.
Not only were staff and daily operations under review, auditors also spoke in-depth to residents and their families.
“The accreditation process doesn’t have to be intimidating,” says Aurrum’s National Quality and Education Manager Caroline Mwania. “I see it as the ideal opportunity to showcase what we do so well at the residence and at Aurrum.”
Caroline said assessors were very impressed with the residence and the care and attention provided to our residents.
“Aurrum prides itself on its Quality Management framework in order to achieve its gold standard of care, and this was validated by the assessors during the accreditation process.
“The Assessment report acknowledged the improvements to the residence since Aurrum took over and noted that residents and their families welcomed the recent changes to the home, including the upgrade to reception areas and resident rooms.
“The assessors were extremely positive in relation to the care and services provided to residents. They were also impressed at how warmly residents and their family members talked about the care and services they received,” Caroline added.
“On one occasion, a resident who had transferred from another residence, mentioned that moving to Aurrum Erina was the best decision he ever made. He said that his quality of life had improved and that he felt the will to live again, which is credit to our team of staff and management,” she said.
Aurrum Chairman David Di PIlla said he is very proud that Erina is operating at such high standards.
“I’d like to congratulate the team on this outstanding result. We are always striving to provide the highest possible standard for our residents and this wonderful result is further evidence that we deliver on all fronts.
“However, we cannot rest on our laurels,” he said.
Facility Manager Michelle Bottle said that continuous improvement is an integral part of meeting the accreditation standards and is a constant management focus at Erina.
“Aurrum Erina will continue to proactively monitor how things are done at the residence and identify areas for improvement.”
As well as the site audit every three years, aged care residences are subject to unannounced “spot checks” by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency at any time.