Domiciliary Care SA became a statewide service on 1 July 2007 under the Department for Families and Communities.
From 2002 to 2007, our organisation was known as Metropolitan Domiciliary Care (MDC), an incorporated health unit under the South Australian Health Commission Act (1976).
MDC was an amalgamation of four domiciliary care service units that had been previously operating in South Australia for over 25 years: the Southern Domiciliary Care & Rehabilitation Service, Eastern Domiciliary Care Service, Northern Domiciliary Care Service and Western Domiciliary Care & Rehabilitation Service.
In 2003 we began introducing some major improvements to our services:
- the Metropolitan Access Team as a central referral contact point for all new clients
- eight locally responsive, multi-disciplinary client service areas across Adelaide
- a Consumer Participation Strategy to collect and respond to feedback on client services
- an Aboriginal Strategy for service development
- new service units for clients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
- the Financial and Corporate Services Unit to administer corporate services, financial management and risk management
- the Organisational Development Unit to provide a focal point for policy development, planning, consumer participation and organisational improvement.
In the reporting year 2008-09, Domiciliary Care SA provided services to 12,015 clients across its eight client service areas. The Adelaide Aged Care Assessment Team completed 11,145 client assessments during the same period.
Now that Domiciliary Care SA is established as a major community care provider in South Australia, we are seeking to build on our previous achievements and to set goals for improved service delivery through greater efficiency, effectiveness and equity, in line with Commonwealth and State Government agendas.