Governing for Reform

Changing organisational culture through compassionate leadership

Compassionate and inclusive leadership has been shown by research to have wide ranging benefits, not only for the workforce but for the organisation as a whole and by extension the people they care for. In stressful environments, people who work in supportive teams under compassionate leadership have been shown to have lower levels of stress, increased staff engagement and satisfaction which results in better outcomes for consumers. This episode will explore some of the actions that leaders can take to address some of the workforce issues facing the aged care sector and to lead with compassion to create positive change.
This episode features Professor Michael West CBE. Professor West is a Senior Visiting Fellow at The King’s Fund, London and Professor of Organisational Psychology at Lancaster University, Visiting Professor at University College, Dublin, and Emeritus Professor at Aston University, where he was formerly Executive Dean of Aston Business School. He has authored, edited and co-edited 20 books and has published more than 200 articles in scientific and practitioner publications on teamwork, innovation, leadership, and culture, particularly in healthcare. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, the American Psychological Association (APA), the APA Society for Industrial/Organisational Psychology, the Academy of Social Sciences, the International Association of Applied Psychologists and the British Academy of Management. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and an Honorary Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery. He was appointed a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020 for services to compassion and innovation in healthcare.
To learn more or to sign up for the Governing for Reform in Aged care program visit: https://gfr.agedcarequality.gov.au
If you are interested in reading further about Professor West’s work in compassionate leadership you can read his book “Compassionate Leadership: Sustaining Wisdom, Humanity and Presence in Health and Social Care”.

Leadership in the face of transformation

The successful transformation of the aged care sector will require leaders in the sector to demonstrate compassionate, curious and collective leadership. Governing body members and executives play a critical part of the aged care transformation to drive collaboration, motivation and learning.
The leaders of the aged care sector have been faced with pressures and challenges on a scale that few other sectors have faced. Aged care leaders need to have a broad range of skills, characteristics and experience in aged care to successfully drive better outcomes for older Australians. This podcast will explore leadership as a driver for positive change and what effective leadership can look like for governing body members and executives in the face of change and transformation.
This episode features Major General (Retd) Fergus McLachlan AO. His senior appointments in the Army included responsibility for Modernisation and Strategic Planning, during which time he created the first Army cyber capability, introduced reconnaissance drones, and commenced the creation of a deployable digital command and control system — a military “internet of things”. His last appointment in the Army was as Commander of Land Forces Command. Land Forces Command comprised 36,000 women and men in roles as diverse as helicopter crews, tank, and artillery units through to logistics and satellite communications. He saw active service in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan. 
Since leaving the Army he has undertaken executive and advisory roles in Defence Industry, Private Equity, Cyber Security, and Information Systems companies. He was made an Officer in the Order of Australia for his service modernising the Army and was appointed an Officer of the US Legion of Merit for his service in Afghanistan.
To learn more or to sign up for the Governing for Reform in Aged care program visit: https://gfr.agedcarequality.gov.au

Bringing the clinical into the board room: how to converge clinical and corporate governance for quality care

The interplay between corporate and clinical governance is a challenging one, which has both separate and overlapping principles. Governing bodies of aged care providers must understand how both clinical and corporate governance work and the impact that these principles have on the quality of care that is provided to consumers.
This podcast will explore what the interplay of clinical and corporate governance looks like and how governing body members and executives can navigate that interplay in the board room to achieve the best possible outcomes for consumers. This episode will discuss the importance that governance frameworks have on the ability of an organisation and its staff to deliver quality care and will set out some tools that leaders can use to understand, lead and drive quality care in aged care.
This episode features Dr Cathy Balding . Cathy works with acute, community and aged care boards, executives and leaders to ‘make quality make sense’; specialising in ‘strategic clinical governance systems with purpose’ that focus on achieving a high quality point of care and service experience.  After a career as a quality manager, health service executive, accreditation assessor and quality policymaker, Cathy decided it was time to focus on what it really takes for leaders and managers to shape quality and clinical governance systems for consistently good care. She is now the author of three books on this topic, has developed state-wide clinical governance frameworks and conducted published research into characteristics of effective quality and clinical governance systems.  She is a current RSL LifeCare NSW Board Director, chairing the Board Quality, Safety and People Committee, and sits on the Alfred Health Board Quality Committee as an external expert. Cathy is a member of two Commonwealth aged care committees: the ‘Sector Quality Reference Group’ and the ‘Expert Advisory Panel for a new aged care regulatory framework.’
To learn more or to sign up for the Governing for Reform in Aged care program visit: https://gfr.agedcarequality.gov.au
If you are interested in further reading about Dr Balding’s work you can read download her paper on clinical governance: https://www.aicg.edu.au/download-aged-care-paper/
You can also access further resources about quality systems here: https://www.cathybalding.com/quality-tools

Governing for Reform Podcast Season 2 Trailer

The second season of the Governing for Reform in Aged Care Program's podcast series is now available. 
The podcast series if part of the Governing for Reform program, led by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. This second season features leaders in the aged care sector, subject matter experts on leadership and new ways forward for leaders in the aged care sector. 

Strategy and innovating for change in aged care

‘I've yet to meet anybody in this industry that doesn't want to innovate, I've yet to meet anybody in this industry that doesn't want to affect positive change.’
This podcast will explore the importance of governing body strategy in driving innovation and change in the aged care sector, while balancing risk and compliance. This podcast features Lucy O'Flaherty who is an experienced C-suite leader, CEO of Columbia Aged Care Services and creator of Korongee, Australia's first purpose built village for people living with Dementia. Lucy is now also supporting others to achieve the same, as a leadership consultant.
Innovating for change, requires insightful and effective planning that balances the drive for innovation with compliance and risk management. Strategic planning not only helps to prepare for change but allows providers to be ready to take advantage of emerging technologies and opportunities in aged care. Governing bodies play an important role in incorporating innovation in their strategic goals to drive continuous improvement and better outcomes for consumers. Innovation at its core refers to new thinking and can result things like new scheduling approaches, new models of care, new systems for reporting to improve consumer outcomes and uplift the capability of the aged care sector. To learn more or to sign up for the Governing for Reform in Aged Care program visit: gfr.agedcarequality.gov.au.

The potential of information, communications and emerging technology in aged care

‘Unless we have good information, we can't make good policy, we can't deliver good care or outcomes.’
This podcast will explore the potential that using information, communications and emerging technologies can unlock for providers. It will consider how governing bodies can lead from a position to drive innovation and change within the aged care sector. This podcast features Professor Westbrook is the Director of Centre for Health Systems and Safety Research at the Australian Institute for Innovation, Macquarie University. She is internationally recognised for her research evaluating the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) in health care. Johanna is currently leading research investigating the role and impact of ICT in the community and aged care sector.
Information, communications and emerging technology is increasingly playing a vital role in the delivery of aged care services. The effective use of technology in aged care can lead to better consumer outcomes and helps to support the delivery of safe and high-quality care. The use of technology in the aged care sector has the potential to change the way providers deliver services and improve consumer outcomes. Governing bodies that view technology to be an enabler of improvement and change are better positioned to be able to respond to change, identify opportunities for improvement and continue to deliver high quality care. To learn more or to sign up for the Governing for Reform in Aged Care program visit: gfr.agedcarequality.gov.au.

The future of dementia in aged care

‘There are as many different experiences of dementia as there are people living with it. And not everybody wants the same thing.’
This podcast will explore the importance of, not only understanding dementia care, but the role that the governing body and executives play in shaping a vision of what quality dementia care in Australia is. This podcast features Maree McCabe AM who is the CEO of Dementia Australia and a Director of the National Ageing Research Institute Board.
As dementia care becomes an increasingly important part of the business of aged care providers, the governing body and executives should consider how their structure, model and workforce continue to meet the needs of people with dementia and their representatives. The governing body and executives must begin to think strategically about how dementia care can form part of their core offering, as opposed to dementia care being a specialist or discreet service. They have a role to play in ensuring that there are systems, processes and adequate resources in place to deliver safe, quality dementia care. To learn more or to sign up for the Governing for Reform in Aged Care program visit: gfr.agedcarequality.gov.au.

The aged care workforce: insights from an aged care CEO

‘We as leaders have got to be thinking about that philosophy of happiness and how are we delivering that back to our team’
This podcast will explore the workforce challenges faced by a leader in the aged care sector and opportunities and strategies for governing bodies to create an attractive employee value proposition amidst an increasingly competitive labour market. This podcast features Rachel Argaman OAM who is the Chief Executive Officer of Opal Healthcare. With over 25 years’ international experience at executive management level in the hospitality and now healthcare sectors, Rachel has a passion for creating organisations that are customer-centric and innovative. This is backed by a driving belief that the success of businesses depends on the quality of the people they employ.
The shortage of a skilled workforce is a significant challenge facing the aged care sector. With increasing demand for an aged care workforce and the impacts of policy, economic and environmental changes (such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and aged care reforms arising from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety), finding and retaining a skilled workforce requires strategic planning and sustainable management.
Governing bodies of aged care providers must consider how the provider’s workforce plan attracts, recruits, manages, and retains a skilled workforce that complies with regulatory requirements and meets consumer expectations. With the gap between supply and demand for aged care workers continuing to increase, governing bodies should consider ways in which strategies can be updated or enhanced to offer a complete employee value proposition to attract and recruit new talent. To learn more or to sign up for the Governing for Reform in Aged Care program visit: gfr.agedcarequality.gov.au.

Overcoming Challenges: lessons from an aged care leader

‘We've got to keep going forward, we've got to keep improving, looking for new ways of doing things, because we're creating an industry that will care for people in the future. And that is really important.’
This episode will explore the role of aged care leaders in governing through a period of change and various challenges, to create growth and opportunities to improve the sector. This episode features Jennifer Lawrence who is an experienced governing body member and executive. She was the recent CEO of the Brightwater Care Group, where she led the strategic direction and operational management of the organisation through periods of change and challenge. 
Leaders in the aged care sector have been required to step up and demonstrate their preparedness, resilience and leadership more than ever. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic are a few examples of events that had a significant impact and strain on the sector. The experience of every leader will be different. But in sharing knowledge and the experiences, these leaders have an opportunity to come together with renewed focus on improving the future of aged care. To learn more or to sign up for the Governing for Reform in Aged Care program visit: gfr.agedcarequality.gov.au.

Governing for Reform Podcast Trailer

The Governing for Reform in Aged Care Program’s podcast series, Conversations to Transform Aged Care is now available. The podcast series is part of the Governing for Reform program, led by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Hosted by Susan Staples, Governance and Risk Specialist at KPMG, the series features leaders in the aged care sector and subject matter experts on reform, lessons learned and ways forward for leaders in the aged care sector.