Queensland aged care providers scoop national awards for excellence
Aged Care Queensland members Feros Care and D&R Community Services have been nationally recognised at the 2009 Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Aged Care for their outstanding contribution to and leadership of the residential and community care sectors.
Feros Care’s Gateway and Referral Centre at Coolangatta was awarded a Highly Commended for its team’s innovative work in using everyday technologies to identify client needs and deliver client services faster.
D&R Community Services’ Cairns team was awarded a Highly Commended for its skilled team’s dedicated delivery of service and care in Queensland’s regional, rural and remote areas.
Aged Care Queensland CEO Anton Kardash said the Awards gave public recognition to the pioneering work conducted by Queensland aged and community care providers.
“The Minister’s Awards are the highest national honour for an aged and community care provider.
“The aged care sector is one of the fastest growing and most dynamic professional workforces in Australia and as such, it demands a lot from its workers and leaders across the management, nursing and allied health fields. “Queensland’s fantastic results in this year’s Awards are a testament to our State providers’ ability to create contemporary responses to the challenges of our industry and an ageing population.
“Our providers don’t just exist in the sector, they are pushing it forward,” Mr Kardash said.
Feros Care general manager community services Gabriele Taylor said the organisation’s commitment to harnessing technologies had allowed it to streamline the efficiency of administration procedures and instead, have more people assisting our seniors in the community.
“The nature of our industry demands personalised service for each of our clients. Our system has the intelligence and flexibility to instantaneously direct them to the right services for their needs without having to wait weeks in someone’s in-tray.
“Our clients value our commitment to combining contemporary models of business and care and as a result, we have grown more than 600 per cent during the past 18 months,” Ms Taylor said
D&R Community Services director Debbie Rivers said since expanding into Queensland from the Northern Territory more than two years ago, D&R has grown more than four times its original size.
“Currently, we have more than 100 staff delivering care to ageing Queenslanders in rural and remote areas from Cairns to Cape York. “With more than 90 percent of our staff and clients being from Indigenous backgrounds, we have been able to develop innovative ways to deliver culturally-appropriate community care and services that the community otherwise wouldn’t receive in such isolated areas,” Ms Rivers said. Federal Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot announced the awards on 3 December.
