INTHEBLACK October 2021 - Magazine - Page 33
Right: Governor-General
David Hurley AC receives
the final report of the Royal
Commission into Aged Care
Quality and Safety from
commissioner Lynelle
Briggs AO (left) and acting
official secretary Sara
Samios in February 2021.
“It’s about providing that quality of
care and the quality of outcomes.
Without having great systems and
quality processes across all layers of
your organisation, it doesn’t support
that quality.”
When he joined Rohling International as a consultant,
the learning curve was steep – particularly when it came to
technology – but the opportunities were many and varied.
Looking back, Raworth says coming from a finance
background rather than an IT background has been a
help in his consulting work. That’s because when Raworth
finds himself talking to CFOs and other senior finance
executives, he can speak their language.
Likewise, his background at Regis equipped him with
the tools and knowledge to help senior leaders drive
significant change.
“I’ve gone through these changes with one of the
largest providers in Australia,” he says.
Organisational change is always hard, and aged care is no
exception. Most care staff and management already have
their hands full with their day-to-day tasks, and identifying
and implementing process changes are added challenges.
However, these changes are critical for the survival of the
sector and the aged care residents’ quality of life.
“Obviously you want to do something in a very efficient
and effective manner, but it’s about providing that quality
of care and the quality of outcomes.
“Without having great systems and quality processes
across all layers of your organisation, it doesn’t support
that quality,” he says.
EMBRACING CHANGE
As an outsider, Raworth says, it is not always easy to
drive change inside an organisation, but he enjoys the
challenge, as well as the variety involved in working with
many different aged care providers.
“What I’ve really enjoyed is, now I get to see how a lot
of other companies and organisations do things and do
things differently,” he says. “I love just seeing change and
seeing process improvement.”
Raworth is looking forward to seeing what positive
change will come out of the Royal Commission’s
recommendations. However, he says, “aged care
organisations need to start now. They can’t wait.”
The first step is to carefully review the
recommendations and begin thinking through ways
to respond to them meaningfully and effectively.
“You need to really plan well and set up the right
governance framework internally to manage all these
process improvement and transformation changes
that...we’re going to need to go through in the next five
years,” he says.
The challenge is great, but Raworth has high hopes.
“I think the change is exciting, and I’m really hoping the
government gets on board with a lot of these changes and
recommendations,” he says.
intheblack.com October 2021 33