THE current workforce constraints in the care services sectors are a major challenge to services delivery in terms of both quality and compliance.
However, those providers who are thinking outside the box are getting in front of this issue, whether that be through the use of technology or recruiting in niche markets.
I’ve written on the issue of workforce constraints in the aged care and disability sectors a number of times, most recently in light of the challenges around resourcing mandatory care minutes introduced as part of the most recent round of aged care reforms.
In that article (Business News, September 19), I argued that aged care providers have been set up to fail because they simply won’t be able to find the workforce required to meet the care minutes stipulated.
In addition to the barrage of complaints from families and residents they are likely to expect, providers will find themselves under the heavy scrutiny of the regulator when they fail to meet mandatory care minute targets or are otherwise found non-compliant on human resourcing accreditation requirements.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest the sector is in the midst of a crisis in this regard.
The Committee for Economic Development of Australia has released research estimating the need for an additional 30,000 to 35,000 direct aged care workers each year.
These findings were before the latest aged care reforms mandating minimum care minutes per resident and don’t consider the workforce overlaps between aged care and disability (which is also facing severe shortages).
Is that the entire story though? Should providers in these sectors be doing more? Can they be thinking differently?
Following that September 19 article, I was contacted by From Left Field principal and former Amana Living CEO, Ray Glickman, who I would describe as a ‘contrarian’. He specialises in thinking outside the box and has a reputation for challenging prevailing attitudes.
So, it was no surprise then when Mr Glickman told me he didn’t agree with me.
While acknowledging that low pay rates and labour market conditions were making it very difficult for care providers to attract and retain staff, he argues that providers need to start exploring whether technology can be used to better match worker supply and employer demand.
Further, Mr Glickman argues there is a latent supply of carers and nurses available for work but that providers are simply not reaching them.
Now, as chairman of startup technology company CareBridge, which applies digital marketing and artificial intelligence to match workers and employers in the care sectors, clearly Mr Glickman has some bias here.
But it does beg the question as to whether providers are exploring all options available to them.
Mr Glickman cited a recent example of how the CareBridge platform sourced and pre-screened 370 candidates to fill care roles for a single organisation.
This led me to reflect upon the need for providers in these challenging times to really test their commitment to solving problems, which have notionally been identified as systemic or external challenges and therefore outside their control.
Workforce constraints are a key example. Clearly the health and care sectors are spending disproportionate amounts of their funding on the treadmill of staff recruitment and the merry-go-round of agency roster filling. Surely the application of new technology offers a way to slow the tempo of this churn.
Now, technology alone is never going to negate the fact there is a workforce crisis requiring the injection of more funding and labour market reform. However, providers must constantly ask themselves whether there are better ways of doing the things they have always done.
In relation to the workforce, many providers are already thinking outside the box. Some are leveraging offshore and immigration solutions.
Others have widened their recruitment lens and are actively recruiting in underappreciated markets such as the mature aged and people with disability.
Those providers understand that, irrespective of the systemic issues, ultimately there is no room for them to operate in a world of excuses.
That is, eventually they will be held accountable by the system for the care and support they deliver.
• Amber Crosthwaite is a commercial lawyer specialising in seniors living, aged care and disability
