I had the opportunity to speak to a group of GPs (General Practitioners) this week, having been invited by the Practice to provide some clarity around the My Aged Care process.
Would it surprise you to learn that GPs are just as confused about My Aged Care as nearly everyone else out there?
Ok, I realise that’s a sweeping statement, but in my experience, sadly, it’s accurate.
So rather than talk to this group of GPs, I just invited questions and I answered all these questions from a ‘real person’s’ point of view.
You see, I was/am a consumer of Australian aged care support and services which are accessed through My Aged Care.
I have real, lived experience of My Aged Care.
I answered a lot of questions.
And then I talked.
And talked.
The GPs took it all in.
Yay!
But they were a bit bewildered too.
I’ll explain.
You see, the My Aged Care call centre staff have scripted conversations that they use to respond to consumer’s questions.
How do I know this?
Because I discussed, ad nauseam, with three different My Aged Care call centre staff about an issue I was trying to resolve for one of my clients.
These call centre staff could not address the issue I was raising and kept telling me to tell the client to go back to the GP and get another referral to My Aged Care.
I won’t go off on another tangent and talk about why this recommendation was inappropriate in this situation, suffice to say…this recommendation was inappropriate in this situation!
I escalated my concern until I was able to talk to a ‘manager’ who told me that the call centre staff have scripted conversations to respond to enquiries and that they couldn’t answer questions that were beyond the parameters of those scripted conversations.
And then she told me if I still wasn’t satisfied I should take it up with the ‘Department’.
I wasn’t satisfied…but ooops…I’ve gone off on a tangent…
Anyway, when I discussed this scenario with the GPs, they acknowledged that this is what their patients are telling them too…but the GPs are no clearer about what to do to resolve My Aged Care related queries because they are as equally confused as just about everyone else!
OK…another sweeping statement…but I am yet to meet anyone who has had a crystal clear experience with My Aged Care.
The intent of this post is not about me debriefing about the frustrations I have with My Aged Care.
The intent of this post is to reassure you that you are not alone in your confusion about everything and anything related to My Aged Care.
So…I am working on a couple of little ‘projects’ that will form part of upcoming blog posts.
‘Projects’ that will make things a little simpler for you as the consumer or carer to navigate the Australian community aged care landscape (this includes tips on how to secure the most appropriate package provider for you and your loved one).
Stay tuned my friends!
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