Maintaining Satisfaction Levels During Disruptive Renovation Programmes - Fitzgerald Memorial Aged Care Facility

Fitzgerald Memorial Aged Care Facility is a 48 bed low care facility located in Windsor, West of Sydney. Set in a semi rural setting it is a not for profit facility operated by a Community Board.

The facility has been using the services of QPS for 4 years to monitor its performance in 15 performance indicators. Satisfaction indicators are considered particularly relevant and they are being used to monitor the impact of building improvements and associated service enhancements.

Refurbishment of Fitzgerald Memorial Aged Care Facility was a major strategic decision for the Board and management and one that needed to be financially responsible, even conservative. To fund improvements across the whole facility it was realised that occupancy would need to increase to underpin financial viability and future capital works programmes. The first step in the process was to convert old unused kitchenette spaces into 8 new bed rooms to increase occupancy and the facility's revenue stream. These renovations commenced in 2006. Occupancy levels rose and the increased revenue streams established a financial platform for future improvements.

Prior to the refurbishment program, meals for the facility were cooked off site and reconstituted in an old on site kitchen. At the time of planning, the off site meals provider indicated that they could no longer provide meals to Fitzgerald Memorial Aged Care Facility and the Board decided to return kitchen services to an on-site function. Consequently the next step in the refurbishment program became the construction of a new kitchen, together with a new main dining room and an assisted dining room for residents that needed assistance with eating. The assisted dining room was specifically created to replicate a home like environment that could also be used for birthdays and other special events.

The next stage was designed to address the concerns of residents, relatives and staff about the need for additional living area accommodation and space for services. Following consultation with residents, relatives and staff the next stage resulted in:

• Larger lounge room area.
• Hair dressing salon
• Doctors clinic
• Care staff offices
• Increased number of toilet amenities for persons with disabilities
• Upgrade of front office areas
• New laundry
  
  

Construction Process and Consultation

The works undertaken at Fitzgerald Memorial Aged Care Facility could not be done on a `greenfields' site. By necessity, much of works had to be completed in and around a fully functional unit. Construction work of this nature brings it own unique challenges.

One of the big challenges was maintaining meal services while the old kitchen and dining room area was renovated. For a period of time many residents had to eat in their rooms and this meant that the facility had to introduce flexible eating times. It was realised that situations such as these would cause disruption and even dissatisfaction during the building programme but every effort was made to communicate and to keep everyone informed on a daily basis.

Another major challenge is the need to consult with stakeholders to ensure that they understand every step in the process so that disruption to activities of daily life can be minimised and that understanding and tolerance can be generated.

One thing that was done to help keep everyone informed was the construction of a photo wall. This helped everyone understand what was going on behind the construction barriers. Manager, James Miller regarded the photo wall as a great success. This was done until such time as safely conducted tours could be undertaken.

A formal sub-committee to the Board was established to enhance consultation between the Board, residents, relatives and staff. This committee also played a vital role in advising the Board on issues such as furnishings and the layout of the new indoor and outdoor living areas.

The Board and management knew that the renovation process would be long and arduous due to the pervasive nature of the works into the resident's environment. Visioning the future outcomes was an important strategy to help people understand that the short term inconvenience would be worth the long term benefits. To this end our satisfaction surveys (QPS) have helped us to monitor year by year the outcomes of our consultation strategies and building outcomes.

Despite the disruption of an intrusive building programme relative satisfaction with the services and also the vision for facility's future has continued to improve. Manager James Miller attributes this to consultation and the opportunity to focus the attention of stakeholders on the final outcome rather than the difficulties of the present.