Navigating the Roadmap to Effective and Sustainable IPC in Aged Care

Ellie Golling and Luci Rodda

The road to establishing and maturing infection prevention and control (IPC) in the aged care sector is paved with good intentions. However, how we get there in an effective, sustainable, and consistent way is often reactionary—left on the shoulders of aged care providers and individual facilities under the guise of compliance and conformance. As a result, IPC efforts often fail to achieve the consistency and effectiveness required for long-term success.

Over the past few years, the aged care sector has faced an extraordinary number of new guidelines, compliance shifts, and external pressures, pushing IPC programs to evolve rapidly—often beyond the sector’s actual capacity for change and implementation. Instead of being nurtured and grown in a sustainable way, IPC expectations have been imposed upon providers, creating a system where providers are constantly reacting rather than proactively shaping their IPC programs.

This is not a criticism of any individual or organisation. Rather, it is a reflection of the tumultuous circumstances that have shaped IPC in aged care: changing funding models, evolving accreditation standards, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, and the introduction of mandatory IPC leads, to name a few. While these factors have driven necessary change, they have also created an opportunity to pause, reflect, and take a more strategic approach to IPC—one that moves beyond reactionary measures to focus on long-term, meaningful improvements.

A Strategic Response, Not Just Compliance

For IPC initiatives to succeed, they must be strategic, calculated, and supported by clear direction. The focus should be on recognising areas that need improvement while also allowing time for sustainable change. Punitive responses to non-compliance often fail to acknowledge the difference between:

1. Wilful underperformance – where standards are knowingly ignored and require rectification.

2. Genuine efforts towards improvement – where facilities and providers are actively working to enhance IPC and need time and support to succeed.

Without this distinction, the aged care sector risks stalling progress, as facilities that are making a real effort may become overwhelmed and disengaged if they are not supported appropriately.

One of the biggest challenges is that IPC in aged care is still under-supported, under-represented, and poorly resourced compared to the expectations placed upon it. While this is improving, the sector is undergoing a significant transformation—it is a very large ship turning in a very tight circle. Sustainable change takes time, and success depends on applying the right strategies to the right problems: rectifying deficiencies where necessary and nurturing positive progress where it is already occurring.

Three Key Questions to Guide IPC Maturity

For aged care providers and facilities to move forward, they need to answer three fundamental questions:

1. Where are we now? – Organisationally, at the facility level, and individually, what does our current IPC program look like?

2. Where do we need to go? – What does contemporary evidence and best practice suggest an effective IPC program should look like?

3. Are we heading in the right direction? – Are our current actions taking us closer to our IPC goals?

To answer these questions, aged care providers must translate current evidence and guidelines into practical, measurable activities. Self-assessment and benchmarking are essential to understanding the state of IPC at multiple levels within an organisation, allowing for targeted improvements.

However, a significant challenge remains: there is no clear, industry-wide standard for what a mature IPC program should look like across different levels of aged care. While the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has established expectations through the incoming, new Aged Care Quality and Safety Standards, IPC is still vastly under-considered in terms of its effectiveness, maturity, and long-term impact.

What Aged Care Providers Can Do Next

The aged care sector must take control of its IPC journey rather than being subject to reactive, compliance-driven change. Success depends on:

✅ Establishing clear IPC roadmaps at organisational, facility, and individual levels.

✅ Aligning IPC programs with contemporary evidence-based guidelines.

✅ Measuring progress using practical and meaningful metrics.

✅ Ensuring that IPC is adequately resourced and supported across all levels of aged care.

✅ Recognising and differentiating between wilful non-compliance and genuine improvement efforts.

At BTG, we specialise in helping aged care providers assess, plan, and implement sustainable IPC programs that go beyond compliance to create meaningful, long-term change. If you’re looking to establish an IPC roadmap for your organisation, facility, or individual practitioners, get in touch with us today.

🔹 Let’s work together to make IPC in aged care proactive, practical, and effective. Contact us to start your roadmap to a stronger, more sustainable IPC program.