Speak Out April 2020 DIGITAL VERSION. pdf

in practice

Ask SPA - NDIS What if I don’t want to stay registered under the NDIS? This is a business decision for you to make. If you decide that you do not wish to consider being registered you have a few options: • Do not engage with the portal by your re-registration date, you will not meet the requirements and be de- registered. • Indicate that you wish to re-register by "hitting the button" but then not engage with an auditor. This will give you until the end of 2020 if you have a re-registration date of 31st March to either engage an auditor, or inform your clients and make other arrangements if necessary. • Log in to the portal, and de-select registration groups if you wish to stay registered for some things, but not others. Once you hit submit you will be de-registered from those groups. If you would like more information there is a webisode available on this specific topic.

I am thinking about taking on an allied health assistant (AHA) in my practice. Do they need indemnity insurance? Speech pathologists supervise allied health assistants (AHAs) who are involved in delivering speech pathology services and AHAs should only facilitate the delivery of speech pathology services if supervised by a speech pathologist. Generally speaking, your indemnity insurance will cover the work carried out by an AHA. It would be prudent to let your insurer know you have an AHA working with your clients. It is important, however, to understand that under your insurance policy employees and contractors are treated slightly differently with respect to services performed for or on behalf of the business owner. If you own a business, you should be aware that employers have a direct liability for employees. If you engage an AHA as an employee, then you are responsible for the errors and omissions of that AHA even if their work is being supervised by another speech pathologist in your practice. Guild have advised that your PI insurance policy provides the business owner with coverage for that under the policy definitions. Employers, generally, do not have a direct liability for all independent contractors including AHAs. However, they can still be held vicariously liable for the actions of AHAs who are working in the business as contractors. The Guild policy provides cover for this scenario under the policy’s 'Additional Benefits' section. AHAs working as contractors should also have their own PI policy as they may be sued in their own name and may incur legal costs in defending those claims. They may also need to fund any damages awarded against them. targeted at both providers and participants. The hub contains simplified resources about the Commission including: • the importance of quality and safety in the NDIS, • provider registration and participant safety, • core practice standards and NDIS Code of Conduct. There is a mix of short videos, and several downloadable fact sheets. While there are not specific policies or procedures for auditing, there are some case studies that might assist members to think about how to apply the standards to their every-day practice. There are also online discussion forums that members can engage in to talk about the standards, and a help desk where providers can ask specific questions. There are other modules that are currently being developed about: • complaints and incident management • privacy, consent and record keeping • what a best practice compliance provider looks like. The NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Commission recognise the impact COVID-19 will have on the readiness and capacity of some providers to engage with this process. Please see the Commission's website for updated information. Ask SPA

If you are thinking about working with an AHA then there are documents on the Association’s website at Working with AHAs that might help you. You can find information about the roles and training required by an AHA and how to work with AHAs to support clients as well as answers to questions when thinking about engaging speech pathology students to work as AHAs. Speech Pathology Australia has also produced information that you can share with clients and NDIS participants including a document about how AHAs

Allied health assistants

Speech Pathology Australia

Easy English

work with speech pathologists and how/when they can add value to speech pathology programs. This document is also available as an Easy English version. See Allied Health Assistants Contact national office if you have further questions. Nichola Harris Manager Professional Practice

29

April 2020 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

Speak Out