How To Deliver Positive Employee Recognition

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Adam Holcroft

Do you wish you could keep the staff in your organisation happy and productive? You know, staff that work together as a team, get their job done, create a great atmosphere for others to work in and for residents to live in?

Over the past 11 years I have been working with healthcare organisations who benchmark their performance in order to learn from the best and to become the best. Many of these organisations have gone on to win industry awards and have experienced continued growth and success.

Fortunately I often get the opportunity to see some great initiatives in action, and now I want to share one of those with you. Continue reading →

Baby Boomers Prompt a Shift in Thinking

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Peter Johnson

It is not that long ago that morning tea and coffee was universally dished up via the tea trolley. Pushed around by the happiest of smiling faces with a penchant for gossip, the trolley became in its own right an institution in the wider workplace, hospitals and aged care. The hallmarks of the tea trolley were the large stainless steel urn, the giant pot of tea, usurped in recent times by the tea bag, and that jar of finely ground coffee powder that left those who drank it with the most curious of bitter tastes in their mouth.

It is little wonder that a decade ago, a good friend of mine would give her children Christmas presents on the condition that there was never to be a place in an aged care facility for her. This condition of future “mummy care” was written on the poor kid’s Christmas cards, for we are talking about a lawyer here. “Find me a rocking chair on a sunny porch and if I drop off, I drop off ….” she would say. Continue reading →

Choice is Such an Important Thing in Aged Care

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Peter Johnson

The son of an aged care resident tells his story

This story is a true account as told to QPS Benchmarking.

Bill lives on the coast of NSW. A year ago his mother fell over at home and needed to be hospitalised. With her physical condition being complicated by the onset of dementia, Bill’s mother was transferred to a local facility that provided both high and low care. The process of having his mother put in aged care was hard enough but it was made worse by the fact that Bill could not feel comfortable with the care being provided. Essentially Bill was concerned about a lack of communication and the visibility of care provided. He felt that his mother was being left alone far too often and there seemed to be confusion about his mother’s rather heavy medication regime. Continue reading →