Continuous improvement in MCM aged care: Five years on

Melbourne Citymission (MCM) is a not-for-profit organisation founded 150 years ago. It is a major provider of community services to the people of Melbourne. One component of their operations is aged care. MCM endeavours to accord to each client of the aged services the dignity and respect, which all people deserve. The philosophy behind the organisational approach to aged services is to facilitate individuality and independence. The Commonwealth Government of Australia sought to address the standard of care being offered by aged care providers by passing the Aged Care Act (1997). That Act introduced a new system for monitoring the provision of aged care and the funding of aged care throughout Australia. Among the developments was the establishment of the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency. In January 2001 the Agency announced that the first phase of the accreditation process, designed to improve the quality of care in Australia's residential aged care services, was complete. Nearly 3000 residential aged care services were accredited meaning that they would continue to receive Commonwealth residential care subsidies, which represents 75 per cent of the cost of care for residents (International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 2001). The accreditation process sees the monitoring of facilities through external audit ensuring that the quality of care and services continue to improve. In the first round of accreditation in August 2000, two of MCMs facilities, Eltham Lodge and Willandra Hostel (known as MCM Aged Care), achieved all 44 outcomes. This paper reports on the progress made some five years on in the continuous improvement process within MCM Aged Care.