How to keep yourself safe and free from complaints?
I took the time to go through some of the HDC Complaints to see if there were any common threads in the complaints received to find out why people complain. Essentially it boils down to two things:
- Lack of communication
- Insufficient knowledge base i.e. training
So how can you avoid an HDC complaint? To understand this, the manager
has to realise the buck stops with them. It doesn’t matter that
you were not even on the premise’s when the alleged action or in action
whichever the case may be, occurred. The Manager is responsible.
Now I know the Manager cannot be there 24/7. I also know that the
responsibility of such a position is responsible for “burnout” of
so many managers. While you may have very high standards and expectations
of your staff, if they do not know what to do, then they will not
do it. It is as simple as that.
So how are you going to overcome the complaints
Firstly, make sure your staff have sufficient knowledge to
do the work they are expected to do. Do not rely on the fact that they
have cared for an elderly relative or a child as being sufficient knowledge
for them to look after a frail or incapacitated adult being it a young physically
disabled person or an older person. So training is key to this. It
has to be ongoing and consistent.
Secondly, make sure there environment in which they work is happy.. This
includes having adequate staff numbers to provide the care. While
the standards do not provide mandatory staff/patient ratios, it is common sense
to realise that frail and debilitated people take a lot of care and time. Hospital
level should be around 1caregiver to 5 people and rest home around 1-8or 9,
depending on the level of dependency. The higher the staff/patient
ration means short cuts will be taken, the more at risk residents
are and undoubtedly they will suffer inadequate care, staff will become
disgruntled and leave and needless to say, complaints from relatives will
occur.
Thirdly, communicate with the families. Keeping
them in the dark, avoiding speaking to them and not keeping them up to date
with what is happening is a recipe for disaster. Making
time for relatives or primary caregiver is the best insurance against a complaint. Contact
them before they contact you. It is rare to find a person who
has placed a loved one into care, to not feel guilty at having to do this. Make
their job easier by keeping them up to date with what is going on
with their loved one. Give them the courtesy of a phone call to advise
of any and everything about the person in care no matter how small it may be. You
are required under Open Disclosure to do this, but hey, wouldn’t it be
better for you to tell them before they came in and found out? It is
common sense really. A no-brainer.Avoid conflict situations from
occurring by keeping people informed and up to day. I know
it takes time to do this but how much time does and investigation take? Considerably
more.
So if you want to avoid a complaint:
- Train your staff well. Make sure RN’s & EN’s
are kept up to date with current knowledge and practices, and Caregivers
know what to do
- Have sufficient staff on duty to do the work and create
a happy environment in which to work
- Keep families informed. Take the time to talk to them when they come in and if you haven’t seen them for a while, give them a call to give them an update. Contacting them before they contact you is the key.
Making the above your mantra will help to keep you safe. And take the time to go and have a look at the HDC Case Notes and see what people complain about, but remember these are only to cases that are investigated. Many are not but it takes a lot of time to prove a case. So keep facility free of complaints by following the above.
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