Service user confidentiality is assured. Sequel is fully compliant with the Privacy Act 1988 as amended by the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000. Sequel has an established Communication Protocol that ensures:
• That only relevant information that will ensure the best outcomes for the service user and support worker is passed on
• That all Sequel staff are duty bound to adhere to Sequel’s Communication Protocol, which dictates lines of communication, at all times
Your rights
The Aged Care Act (1997), amended in 2007, stipulates both Community Care Standards and User Rights Principles that we are obliged to adhere to.
Under the Aged Care Principles all service users of Sequel Home Based Care have the right:
• To be involved and informed of decisions regarding their care (this is usually facilitated through the service user’s Case Manager or Sequel’s Care Manager); and
• To be assured of your confidentiality and privacy at all times.
This means that your support worker is duty-bound to never disclose any of your personal information to anybody but those who are directly involved in your care.
Workers’ rights
When a Sequel support worker enters your home for their agreed duties, your home also temporarily becomes their workplace.
You probably will not have to make any specific changes to your home before your support worker arrives, but we ask all service users and others in the household to:
• Please treat our staff with courtesy and respect, as Sequel will not tolerate any form of abuse
• Refrain from smoking in the proximity of your support worker
• Maintain in safe condition any equipment or appliances used by your support worker
• Please do not ask staff to perform tasks that have not been agreed to with Sequel’s Care Manager, or tasks that are deemed to put the support worker at risk
The rights of workers to a safe workplace are enshrined in Victorian Legislation – The Occupational Health & Safety Act (2000). This act specifies standards and codes of practice that are designed to provide all workers with a safe workplace.