From Leon’s Desk; Part 2 of a new Series:
My name is Leon Ankersmit. I am the CEO of Caringa and I have supported people with disability to live a complete life for more than 30 years. Over this two part personal journal entry; I wanted to share with you, from our experience, how a person seeking support from an NDIS provider can try to make sure that they are choosing a safe, reliable and trustworthy service.
Just joining us?
For the refresher, jump back and read PART 1 of this 2 Part series from last week;
Part 1.
Choosing an NDIS provider
As if having a disability wasn’t complicated enough already, we now keep hearing about NDIS PROVIDERS who cannot be trusted to do the right thing.
In the NDIS space, it is not always easy to work out whether a provider is trustworthy. The news is frequently showing us horrific stories of shonky providers who either rip people off or put their safety at risk. Sometimes these frightening events have tragic outcomes.
It leaves most of us thinking, ‘How can we make sure we don’t end up with a dangerous or dodgy support provider’?
As I said in my previous post, traditional providers of services for people with disability were community based organisations, run by committees who were elected by members of the organisation. Like sporting clubs and service clubs such as Rotary, these organisations existed purely for the benefit of those who used them. The focus was on filling gaps such as respite, education and employment opportunities, and providing support and care for people who could not or no longer be looked after by their families.
In reality, the NDIS emerged from these not-for-profit provider foundations, and the purpose of the NDIS was to make these essential support services available to more people who need these types of support. This created a huge increase in ‘customers’ (demand) for services as well as a large increase in available funding provided through the ‘scheme’.
Additionally, the NDIS promised people with disability that they could have more choice, and control over how they receive their support.
To provide that increase in choice, many thousands of new providers have emerged, and the difficulty is working out what is important for you in making your choice of service provider. Newer providers who have established their businesses in response to the NDIS are more likely to be sole traders or commercial companies. This means that fundamentally, they have a ‘profit motive’, although they may also have a motive to deliver excellence and high quality. Think of companies like Rolls Royce or Hilton Hotels: they exist to make a profit, but they do so by focusing on quality products.
Newer providers may be very good at their job and a safe option. However, the majority of providers who do the wrong thing are also newer to the sector and not there for the right reasons.
Unfortunately, many people who need support from an NDIS provider may not be skilled at understanding how quality can be measured.
Some indicators of quality are obvious:
- do people deliver on their promises?
- Do they turn up on time, and are they suitably dressed for the work they are required to do?
Other indicators of quality go a bit deeper and are less obvious:
- Do they make sure that their work meets important standards of safety and diligence?
- Do they have the right insurance and are they trained in the areas in which they are working?
- Do they provide the right conditions for their workers, including superannuation and WorkCover?
- Do they keep records of the work they do so they can report on progress when developmental goals are in place or keep track of changes in wellbeing or behaviour that may be significant?
- Do they observe confidentiality and make sure that personal details are stored securely?
- Do providers stay informed of the latest knowledge and trends and do they keep their accreditations for first aid and safety protocols up-to-date?
- Do they have a clearly stated policy for receiving and responding to complaints?
These are all basic indicators for providers who offer NDIS services. If a provider struggles to answer any of the above questions, that should be a cause for concern. They may not even be registered as NDIS providers, which means that they cannot meet the most basic of expectations.
However, there are additional indicators of quality that go above and beyond the minimum requirements for NDIS providers.
- High quality providers ensure that all workers have at least a minimum level of training that is relevant to their work. In most cases, the minimum standard is a Certificate 3 in Disability Support Work or an equivalent certificate in a very similar field.
- High quality providers have ways of being clear about and avoiding conflicts of interest, for example, where multiple members of one family work in the business, or when one worker or provider refers a client to another worker or provider who is their friend or relative.
- High quality providers offer written (other otherwise accessible) agreements about the services they will provide. This acts as a contract between the provider and the person seeking support so that they both know what is agreed.
- High quality providers ensure that workers are supported to be at their best for every appointment, by ensuring that workers take breaks, don’t work more than reasonable hours in a day, and take a holiday when they need it.
Most importantly, high quality providers are regularly assessed by independent quality auditors, who make sure that providers can prove that they actually do all the things that are expected of them. The auditors rate the performance of providers and expect them to fix any areas where the quality of their work can’t be demonstrated. They also rank the best of the providers who meet or exceed ‘best practice’ standards. Best practice means that the work being done is the best quality that can be expected from any provider at that point in time. These providers invest in their learning and maintain systems that monitor all the activities of their organisation so that controls can be applied and remedies introduced if performance no longer meets the high expectations set by themselves and the people who use their services.
So to summarise: The NDIS does not have to be the minefield that is presented in the media if some basic questions are asked before signing up to receive services. The safest approach is to choose a provider who has been around for a while, who is doing the work for the right reasons (quality versus profit), who is governed by a board or committee, and who can demonstrate as many of the quality indicators as possible.
Best of all is to choose a provider who proudly seeks to deliver BEST PRACTICE, which means that they are the best at what they do, compared to everyone else doing a similar job.
Stay safe!
Leon Ankersmit, Chief Executive Officer
Learn about Caringa’s journey across 71 years as a Community Organisation.
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