WESTERN District Health Service (WDHS) aged care facility, The Birches has been re-accredited for a further three years, following an unannounced site visit by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission in early May.

Surveyors spent three days on site at The Birches, subsequently finding the facility compliant in all 42 requirements across eight Aged Care Quality Standards.

WDHS acting chief executive, Nick Starkie said he was delighted with the outcome, particularly in the context of the challenges staff continued to face in responding to the pandemic.

Mr Starkie said the outcome demonstrated that the Birches had effective organisation-wide governance systems to ensure care and services delivered are safe and resident health and wellbeing is paramount.

“Accreditation is an opportunity for WDHS to highlight the wonderful work our staff do across our facilities, to provide quality care and a safe and happy environment for our residents,” he said.

“I would like to thank all Birches staff for their compassion and commitment to providing high quality, safe and contemporary care, under very challenging circumstances.”

Quality assessors assess how a service is performing against the Quality Standards by collecting evidence and arriving at findings based on this evidence.

Through a number of accreditation processes, WDHS receives valuable feedback on its systems and care and how these can be improved to better meet the needs of residents, patients and their families.

Quality assessors focus on outcomes for consumers when they collect evidence. They review documented procedures, observe the practices at the service, and they look at consumer records and other documents held by the service such as staff rosters, incident reports, care plans and complaints registers.

They also talk with consumers or their representatives to get their feedback about their satisfaction with the care and services being provided by the service.

The Birches, acting director of nursing, Catherine Loria said staff approached the site audit with great professionalism and were ecstatic about the outcome.

“I’m so proud of The Birches team, who continue to step up and remain professional and pragmatic, despite the difficulties faced in recent years,” she said.

“It is a wonderful facility and the assessors commented on how welcoming and homely the environment is.

“We look forward to the opening of our newly landscaped garden areas, which will further improve the quality of life of our residents and provide more areas for families to enjoy time with their loved ones.”