The Commissioners of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety have written to the ‘top 100’ providers of aged care services nationally, requesting providers to voluntarily provide information to the Royal Commission with a view to formulating the Royal Commission’s focus at subsequent hearings.

The request for information is the first step in the Royal Commission’s information gathering process, with the deadline for providing information being 7 January 2019. Other service providers will be asked to submit information at a later date in February 2019.

Whether or not a provider finds itself in the ‘top 100’, there are significant benefits to voluntarily disclosing material to the Royal Commission. At the same time, there are responsibilities that attach to providing information, particularly when such information may suggest that appropriate standards of care have not been met.

Please join us for a breakfast seminar where our Royal Commission experts will examine the benefits and downsides to voluntary disclosure and discuss the issues that your organisation will need to consider when disclosing information, including:

• Is there a need to Investigate? – Do you only need to disclose incidents that are currently within your knowledge? Or do you need to undertake enquiries or investigations to identify all previous occasions of “substandard” care.
• What is the Standard? – What type of conduct constitutes “substandard care”?  Is it limited to conduct (apart from mistreatment and abuse) that resulted or could have resulted in a physical injury?  Does it include inadvertent acts or omissions?  What definition or standard should you apply when considering your disclosure obligations?
• Allegations – Should you disclose allegations of substandard care including mistreatment and abuse that have not been proven following an investigation?  What about allegations that were never investigated?
• Remedial Action – if you did not take action in response to an incident of substandard care at the relevant time, should you now implement measures to ensure that the conduct is unlikely to be repeated? Should you prepare and implement policies and procedures now before responding to the Royal Commission?
• How to Describe – How specific should you be in describing incidents of substandard care? Should you refer to the names of any involved persons?
• Confidentiality – If an incident of substandard care resulted in a claim or potential claim which was settled on confidential terms, are you permitted to disclose the incident or claim to the Royal Commission?

We hope you can join us.

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