Staffing levels – is skill-mix the formula for success?

This month we look at the discussion around whether mandated staffing levels in aged care, as a ratio of care hours to residents, would improve care services?

Rather than numbers of personnel alone, to provide safe and appropriate nursing services, staffing skill-mix (taking into consideration the workforce diversity) is essential to ensuring appropriate effective staffing. These factors are not taken into account or provided for within the industry funding levels which puts additional pressure on those working in aged care services.

While performing statutory (temporary) management roles over past years, adequate numbers of staffing alone hasn’t guaranteed safe and appropriate care. Nursing outcomes for residents have been reliant on a mix of highly skilled staff working in conjunction with newer or less experienced staff to guide and mentor.  There could be 10 staff on duty but if none of them have had previous experience working in aged care services, these staff are set-up to fail in performance of their duties, and the resident care outcomes are likely at risk.

SNZ HB 8163:2005 – ‘Indicators for safe aged-care and dementia-care for consumers‘ is a national document which includes formulas for staffing levels based on acuity of residents. This document set industry guidelines and although not mandated, defines staffing from a best practice perspective. Numbers alone as already mentioned are not sufficient.

Outdated for the acuity of residents needs in 2019 and onward, the 2005 guidelines didn’t take into account a range of factors. For example the size and physical layout of the facility, location of resources, the leadership structure and how work teams are configured, economy of scale and appropriate cover.  The minimum staffing requirements in the ARRC   is well below that sufficient to meet resident needs.  Having been implemented in 2005 (SNZ HB 8163:2005) when resident needs were less complex than they are now, it’s well past time to review how staffing skill-mix is determined and more importantly how the industry will be funded for increased staffing to meet the increased needs of residents.

HCSL developed a 5 step acuity assessment tool in response to providers requests after being frustrated by using the two tier InterRai assessment which give outcomes of resthome or hospital level of care. InterRai doesn’t reflect the range of acuity represented in SNZ HB 8163:2005 from a care level perspective.  As reported by numerous registered nurses working in aged care, the complex clinical presentation of residents being admitted into care is not accurately reflected in InterRai which is why they still need to supplement InterRai at times with more detailed clinical assessments.

Achieving desired outcomes for residents and the timeliness of appropriate care support based on individual assessed needs should be the aim for the allocation funding to ensure adequate staffing levels.

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Contractor Health and Safety

Managing Contractors from a Health and Safety Perspective

Managing Contractors from a Health and Safety Perspective is a vital component of having external trades people at your workplace.

The use of contractors  is unavoidable in retirement villages and any aged care facility as we look to engage external expertise for specialised work and maintenance tasks.

Section 34 of The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 provides that all persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) who have duties imposed by the Act in relation to the same matter must, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult, co-operate and co-ordinate their activities with all the other PCBUs who have duties that overlap with them.

There are four main points to remember about overlapping duties:

  • You have a duty to consult, cooperate with and coordinate activities with all other PCBUs you share overlapping duties with, so far as is reasonably practicable.
  • You can’t contract out of your health and safety duties, or push risk onto others in a contracting chain.
  • You can enter into reasonable agreements with other PCBUs to make sure that everyone’s health and safety duties are met.
  • The more influence and control your business has over a workplace or a health and safety matter, the more responsibility you are likely to have.

WorkSafe have made it clear that they expect PCBUs at the top of a contracting chain to be leaders in encouraging good health and safety practices throughout the chain. They also expect these PCBUs to use sound contract management processes.

There are six key health and safety steps when it comes to managing your contractors:

  • Scoping – understand what the body of works is, the risks involved, the training and competencies required, the working environment and any additional measures required.
  • Selection – select the right contractor for job, utilise a contractor selection process that considers the values and systems of the contractor from a safety perspective.
  • Induction – provide the contractor with basic information regarding site hazards, site rules and emergency evacuation procedures.
  • Safe system of work – the contractor must provide (and you must review) safety management information for the job. You must be confident that the contractor has appropriately controlled the risks associated with their works.
  • Monitoring – while the contractor is on site, check that they are carrying out their works in accordance with the safety management information they provided.
  • Review – Examine what went right as well as what can be improved so that both parties may continually improve on their health and safety performance, this should fed-back into future scoping and selection decisions.

WorkSafe (New Zealand) have developed Good Practice Guidelines for ‘PCBUs Working Together: Advice When Contracting’ (June 2019) in order to provide advice on how you can meet your duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, illustrate different contractual relationships between parties, and provide examples of ways you can build health and safety into contract management.

Author:

Thanks to Shannon Wright, from Imprint Safety Limited for contributing this article.

Cosman, M., Tooma, M., Butler, A., Marriott, C., Schmidt-McCleave, R. (2018). Safeguard Health & Safety Handbook 2019. Wellington, New Zealand: Thomson Reuters.

WorkSafe. (2019). PCBUs Working Together: Advice When Contracting. Retrieved from https://worksafe.govt.nz/managing-health-and-safety/getting-started/understanding-the-law/overlapping-duties/pcbus-working-together-advice-when-contracting/

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