- Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to outline ECH’s commitment to seeking regular internal and external feedback and to meet obligations under aged care and retirement villages legislation to facilitate open disclosure and transparent and fair resolution of complaints. All feedback will be used to inform and contribute to continuous improvement.
- Scope
This policy applies to all ECH employees, contractors, volunteers and other persons who provide services to ECH clients.
- Definitions
| Term | Definition |
| CALD | Culturally and Linguistically Diverse A person whose cultural heritage is from a non-English speaking country or whose first language is something other than English. |
| Client / Resident | Client / Resident means the person receiving care and/or services from ECH and may also include the person’s family member, carer or substitute decision maker. |
| Client-centred care | An approach to the planning, delivery, and evaluation of care and/or services that is founded on mutually beneficial partnerships between clients and ECH. Client-centred care is respectful of, and responsive to, the preferences, needs and values of consumers. |
| Feedback | All compliments, complaints and suggestions received by ECH. Note: Feedback may also be received from the general community. |
| LGBTQIA+ | Refers collectively to people who are, or identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and/or asexual. |
| Open disclosure | A process of providing an open, consistent approach to communicating with consumers / residents and their family or carer and/or support persons after an incident |
- Policy Statement
ECH will ensure that the complaints and feedback management system is implemented and managed consistent with the following guiding principles:
The complaints and feedback management system will support employees to recognise, report and appropriately respond to complaints and feedback.
For funded aged care services delivered under aged care legislation the complaints and feedback management system will:
- facilitate open disclosure and resolution of complaints and prioritise restorative practices
- receive, assess, acknowledge, manage, respond, report and resolve matters about ECH’s service delivery in a fair, transparent, accessible, safe, culturally safe and timely manner
- encourage and support clients, client supporters, ECH employees and any other persons to make complaints and give feedback about ECH’s service delivery and to do this anonymously if the person wishes
- be accessible and enable complaints and feedback to be given and withdrawn verbally and in writing without being charged provide support and assistance including access to advocates and language services to persons making complaints or giving feedback and to any person affected by an issue raised in a complaint or feedback
- allow persons making complaints or giving feedback and any person affected by an issue raised in a complaint or feedback to be involved appropriately in resolutions and keep informed if they wish to
- acknowledge and support the role of independent aged care advocates and facilitate arrangements for persons making complaints or giving feedback and any person affected by an issue raised in a complaint or feedback to be supported by advocates
- capture, review, actioned and monitor complaints and feedback to contribute to continuous improvement of ECH services, including the quality of information, care and service provision and engagement
- maintain privacy and confidentiality of personal information
- ensure no reprisals for persons giving feedback and making complaints and afford procedural fairness to them and any person the subject of the complaint or feedback
- inform persons giving feedback and making complaints about other mechanisms for resolving complaints
- ensure that any referral or notification requirements are met
- support whistleblowers who elect to have disclosures about ECH’s delivery of funded aged care services managed as a complaint or feedback consistent with the complaints and feedback management system policy and procedure. Feedback and complaints about retirement living operations are managed consistent with the Code of Conduct and Dispute Resolution Procedure established under the retirement villages legislation.
- These documents apply to relationship expectations and disputes between residents and ECH.
- The Dispute Resolution Procedure sets out the processes to be followed including a mediation option.
- Residents’ rights to apply to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) will be respected if genuine attempts to resolve the dispute have failed.