THE Department of Health has announced that a new Aged Care Act will be introduced to Parliament this year, with a further amendment bill to be put forward to establish the Support at Home program to start in 2025.
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety had uncovered that the current Aged Care Act and its related legislation are no longer fit for purpose.
This is because it was structured around providers and how to fund them, rather than around the people accessing services and what they need, said a Dept statement.
The new rights-based act will put older people who need aged care at the centre of the system.
While the new act will affect everyone involved in the aged care sector, a key recommendation will be that medical practitioners must trial and document alternative strategies in the care recipient's clinical record before prescribing psychotropic medications.
Practitioners and pharmacists will need to check for any contribution of current medication to confusion, sedation or other side effects potentially causing distress or behaviours of concern.
Restrictive practices will also be used only as a last resort to help prevent harm to older people in aged care and their carers.
Recent changes to laws strengthen existing requirements and put measures in place to reduce the inappropriate use of restrictive practices.
Healthcare professionals will also need to identify and document the risk of harm to the person or others that medication used as restraint seeks to address.
The Department of Health has also confirmed it is holding another round of consultations up until 16 Feb for people to have their say on the exposure draft of the bill for the new Aged Care Act, HERE. JG
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