Quality Improvement
Quality improvement is a key focus for Australian residential aged care services. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission mandates that providers should have a written plan for continuous improvement to assist providers in meeting their obligations to the older persons, their families and carers. There are various ways providers can use quality improvement processes to review service delivery of palliative care and advance care planning. palliAGED has resources on the importance and latest evidence on quality improvement.
The ‘Plan-Do-Check-Act’ cycle is a continuous improvement model that includes four phases:
- Plan - Identifying and Preparing
- Do - Implementing
- Check - Assessing and Revising
- Act - Sustaining
The ELDAC Linkages Toolkit provides information and resources that can assist in working through the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle.
ELDAC Audit Tools
Data can be used during the different stages of the quality improvement cycle. ELDAC has two audit tools that can be completed to support the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle.
The ELDAC Organisational Audit is an interactive fillable form that can be completed by a team member who has clinical and organisational knowledge of the palliative care and advance care planning processes and the care provided by the organisation. In some instances, consultation with other team members may be required to complete the audit.
Once completed, identify areas for quality improvement with team members and/or the working group. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has a template that can be used to plan continuous improvement activities. The quality improvement plan should be reviewed at every working group meeting.
It is recommended that the organisational audit be completed at least yearly and the results used as part of your organisation’s accreditation documents. Provide a date for when the audit was completed and a date for future review.
The ELDAC After Death Audit is an interactive fillable form used to record more details on the end-of-life care provided to an older person and their family and carers. It is recommended that a baseline audit be completed for either the most recent five to ten deaths or for a certain period (e.g. all deaths that occurred over the previous 3-month period). The audit can be part of your organisation's records.
It is recommended that the ELDAC After Death Audit is completed for every older person that dies and that a formal review of deaths is conducted by a working group a minimum of every 3 months.