TAFE NSW – Western Institute is heading up a $4.2 million program to retrain some 10,000 industry managers and employees to implement the new funding model, the Aged Care Funding Instrument, on behalf of the Department of Health and Ageing.
Aged care facilities funded by the Commonwealth Government number 3,000 and all have the mammoth task of managing the influx of elderly people over the next few decades. Already aged care residential facilities accommodate 150,000 people and compete for an annual funding pool of $5.5 billion.
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Massive training program required? |
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TAFE NSW delivers on scale and quality. |
Karen Hyland is the Chief Project Officer of the TAFE NSW Aged Care program. She said the training taught employees about administrative rules and transition arrangements within the new funding model.
So far more than 3,000 facility managers had taken part in 180 workshops at 107 different locations all around Australia, with training delivered by more than 65 TAFE NSW staff. The next round of training begins in February 2008 for around 7,000 aged care staff. Those taking part attend a two-day workshop for a total of 12 hours. Ms Hyland said the feedback had been very favourable.
Margaret Langford-Smith is a Care Manager at Ascot Gardens in Orange and underwent her training in September. She said it met the needs of the people who attended and was informative and thorough.
‘I think we all felt a lot more confident about the funding model at the end of the two days,’ she said. Since gaining funding was the backbone of providing a good standard of care to people and nursing homes, ‘it's important we know how to get it right’.
Ms Langford-Smith said when the last funding model was introduced 10 years ago there was less education around it and therefore some confusion. The new tool was expected to reduce paperwork and have less ambiguities than its predecessor.
Vicki Boyd, Member, Aged Care Funding Instrument Implementation Committee at the Department of Health and Ageing, said the Department has enjoyed partnering with TAFE NSW. ‘To train 10,000 people is a huge undertaking, but we have found the TAFE NSW staff to be very professional,’ Ms Boyd said.
Western Institute Director Adrian Mitchell said winning the tender was a huge achievement for the Institute and ‘indicative of our skilled and talented staffing body’. Staff from Northern Sydney, Illawarra and New England Institutes were also involved in the training. The new funding model will be introduced in March next year.
