17 April 2024
Dear valued Customers and families
The legal action being taken by the NDIS Commission against LiveBetter has put a spotlight on our training processes.
The court process is now complete and I want to reassure our community, our customers, their families, and our staff how the changes we have put in place will ensure everyone’s safety.
We have independently reviewed all aspects of our training and assessment and taken significant steps to improve our training and assessment processes and overall safety measures. Our commitment to your safety and the quality of care provided remains unwavering.
In February 2023, the LiveBetter Board approved a $1.37 million increase to our training budget to establish the LiveBetter Academy. The Academy is dedicated to providing comprehensive training to all frontline staff, ensuring they are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver safe and effective care and supports.
It also delivers training to our senior frontline people in how to train new staff on the job. We have engaged a team of 14 staff. The team includes trainers, content developers and project officers to develop and deliver mandatory training and professional development across our workforce with a focus on customer safeguarding, compliance, and the assessment and management of risk.
The Academy programs include Better Beginnings, Better Buddies and Better Leaders. Each program is designed to address specific areas of training and development. These initiatives are coupled with our renewed focus on compliance and risk management.
Importantly we have implemented stringent procedures around safe bathing and risk assessment, as well as restructured our management and governance framework to provide greater oversight and accountability. We rigorously assess all home environments and workplaces for risks. If a risk is identified a mandatory risk management plan is put in place for the customer and their home.
Zero tolerance for non-compliance with mandatory training
All LiveBetter staff are required to complete mandatory training each year.
I want to reassure you that we have a zero-tolerance policy for non-compliance with our mandatory training requirements. Any staff member who fails to meet these standards is promptly addressed and held accountable.
We have been serving regional Australians in partnership with our customers, their families and their broader communities for 40 years and we look forward to serving our communities for many decades to come.
I have set below more detail about some of our new programs. Please call or email me if you would like any further information or to discuss any aspects of our work.
Thank you for your continued trust and partnership as we work to rebuild and strengthen our commitment to your safety and well-being.
Sincerely
Natalie Forsyth-Stock
CEO LiveBetter
Key Programs delivered by the Academy include:
Better Beginnings
All new staff attend three days of face-to-face mandatory training under the Better Beginnings program, irrespective of where they work. This training, performed by experienced clinical and non-clinical trainers covers Safe Bathing Procedures, Customer Safeguarding, Personal Care, Clinical Thinking for Non-clinicians, identifying risks including how to conduct a Home Care Risk assessment, among other topics. It builds on our existing mandatory online e-Learning modules.
Better Buddies
Our Better Buddies program provides targeted on-the-job training for new team members, by partnering them with an experienced team member expert in the critical areas of risk and personal assessment. Checklists take new staff through the Safe Bathing Procedure, areas of risk management including home, customer and staff safety along with identifying customers specific needs.
Better Leaders
Our Better Leaders Program is designed to provide our managers with the skills needed to ensure our care and support teams consistently meet and exceed required standards and that any potential risks are identified and managed so that our customers receive the highest levels of care in a safe and supportive environment. This Program is mandatory for all people managers.
Our new management and governance structure:
We have separated our operations into three separate areas – In Home Supports, Accommodation Services and Community Services. This new structure ensures that management have greater visibility and understanding of the complexities of the different environments in which we provide care and the individuals we provide care to.
We are restructuring the Executive team to include a new Executive role focused solely on Customer Quality and Safeguarding.
We have dedicated additional resources for our Clinical and Care Governance team and have established a new Quality and Compliance Committee reporting directly to the board.