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We are publishing this resource in draft form to assist providers, workers and

older people to prepare for the Age Care Act 2024.

This content remains draft and will be updated after the new Act and Age Care

Rules 2025 come into force.

Strengthen Age Care Quality Standard 5, Clinical Care.

describes the responsibilities of registered providers to deliver safe and

quality clinical care services.

As a provider, this means providing older people with person -centred

care that optimises their health and quality of life.

This supports reablement and their ability to maintain enjoyable daily life

activities.

You must understand that clinical care is complex for many older people and

requires a multidisciplinary approach with a skilled workforce that is

to deliver contemporary evidence -based funded aged care services.

The expected outcomes of Strength and Quality Standard 5 are Outcome 5 .1

Clinical Governance This outcome requires providers to integrate clinical

governance into corporate governance to manage and improve the safety and

quality of clinical care for older people.

It requires the culture of quality improvement and the implementation of

effective systems and processes.

Outcome 5 .2, preventing and controlling infections in delivering clinical care

services,

explains the importance of using antimicrobials appropriately to reduce

increasing resistance.

This includes the need to ensure effective infection prevention and

Outcome 5 .3, safe and quality use of medicines, explains the need to ensure

medicines are used in a way that maximises benefits, and minimises the

harm. This involves older people, workers and health professionals and

monitoring of any adverse events.

Outcome 5 .4, Comprehensive Care, requires an overarching approach to the

planning and delivery of all aspects of clinical care that an older person

requires or requests.

The principles and practices of comprehensive care underpin all other

care outcomes and actions in Standard 5.

Outcome 5 .5, Safety of Clinical Care Services,

requires providers to identify, monitor and manage high impact and high

prevalence clinical care risks to ensure safe, quality clinical care and to

reduce the risk of harm to older people.

Outcome 5 .6, Cognitive Impairment, requires providers to ensure older

who experience cognitive impairment receive comprehensive care that is

to their clinical needs, goals and preferences.

It explains that evidence -based clinical care is essential to optimising

quality of life and safety of older people.

Outcome 5 .7 Palliative Care and End -of -Life Care ensures older people's

clinical needs, goals and preferences for palliative care are recognised and

their dignity is preserved.

This outcome recognises that the clinical care an older person receives

last years, months and weeks of their life can reduce the stress and grief

associated with death and dying.

In this Strength and Quality Standard, some of the actions relate to new topics

or expectations.

The remaining actions are either in line with or clarify the current quality

standards or other existing provider responsibilities.

Strength and Quality Standard 5 has key topics that connect with all the other

Strength and Quality Standards.

To apply Strength and Quality Standard 5 in practice, you should...

Make sure you have clearly documented systems and processes.

Use monitoring tools to show how staff are following these processes and find

opportunities for improvement.

Work with people receiving care to understand their experiences and care

outcomes. Observe how your service provides care.

Ask for feedback from your governing body, managers, workers, people you care

for and others involved in the delivery of care and services.

Use feedback to improve your care and services.

As a provider, you need to understand who you are caring for, what their

clinical needs are and what is important to them. This will be demonstrated

through the delivery of clinical care service that is based around what is

for them.

The Commission has a range of resources available to support you to take action

and achieve the outcomes of Strength and Quality Standard 5 clinical care.

You can access these resources from the Commission's website.