Enterprise cloud OS leader, Nutanix, today announced it has helped leading Australian aged care provider, Whiddon, to support the organisation’s technology
initiatives as it seeks to attract new staff to an industry struggling to modernise and lift itself out of debt.
Whiddon is an award-winning aged care provider employing more than 2,700 staff, caring for more than 2,100 older
Australians in regional, rural NSW and QLD, through residential, community and retirement living services. It operates
in 26 geographic locations and provides holistic care and wellbeing, helping residents stay active, connected, and
feeling part of the community, and sees a huge role for technology in achieving this goal.
The organisation has faced a number of challenges including difficulty attracting new and younger staff; an overall
reduction in technology investment due to the significant challenges regarding industry funding models, with the
majority of rural, regional and remote providers operating at a loss; industry-wide lack of technological maturity and
digital literacy; and aging IT infrastructure that has inhibited Whiddon’s digital ambitions.
A report by chartered accountants StewartBrown found that, excluding the impact of one-off government grants, more than
50 per cent of residential aged care providers operated at a loss in the last financial year, rising to 66 per cent in regional areas.
“We’re probably the only industry still reliant on the fax machine,” said Regan Stathers, Executive General Manager
Technology and Property, Whiddon.
“Whiddon has always tried to focus on digital enablement, but it’s a difficult time for the industry. Technology
investment is not seen as a priority and other stakeholders lag behind in digital maturity and dexterity. It became an
issue in attracting new, digital natives to the profession which we desperately need.”
Whiddon decided to overhaul its IT infrastructure to create a platform that would help future-proof its business and
tackle these challenges head on. It evaluated a range of options including traditional datacentres and public cloud.
It ultimately selected Nutanix hyperconverged infrastructure primarily due to its efficiency, scalability and security,
alongside trusted IT partner Communications Design & Management Pty Ltd (CDM). The organisation felt public cloud would prove too costly, make it difficult to protect data and take away control
over its environment.
Nutanix now runs all of Whiddon’s core applications and has enabled increased scalability and integration. Processes
that once required two hours have been reduced to just about 30 seconds, helping to enable the IT team to focus on
technical projects that can improve resident care, deploy modern applications new staff would expect, and achieve
greater business performance.
The organisation’s ICT team have also reduced its power consumption by about 50 per cent with Nutanix compared with its
previous infrastructure, allowing it to redirect much needed funds to frontline services.
The Royal Commission and Changing Attitudes
The modernisation of Whiddon’s IT and business environment comes at a crucial time for the industry, as it emerges from
the COVID-19 pandemic and the Royal Commission on Aged Care draws to a close early next year. The Aged Care Industry
Information Technology Council (ACIITC) has created a Technology Roadmap for Aged Care in Australia, which Whiddon hopes will change attitudes to technology in the sector.
“There is a huge opportunity to change the industry’s mindset towards technology from an expense to an investment,” said
Stathers. “We need to create an environment where we can see where customers are on their journeys and have the right
data in the right place at the right time to provide optimum care. Technology and innovation at an industry-wide level
can help improve care for our elderly, attract new talent, reskill existing staff and help adapt the sector to meet the
needs of tomorrow.”
To reinforce the point, In December 2019, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) released a position paper highlighting that innovation and technology must be at the core of any reforms to
improve the levels of care, compassion and coordination in Australia’s aged care sector.
“Whiddon is disrupting the status quo, showing the true value of digital transformation in traditional industries and
setting a benchmark for the industry to follow.” said Lee Thompson, Managing Director Australia and New Zealand,
Nutanix.
“Affordable and flexible technology like hybrid cloud has the ability to unleash a new wave of innovation and untapped
potential in the aged care sector and pioneers like Whiddon, along with its residents, look set to reap the early
benefits.”
Whiddon is just one of a number of companies and government agencies which have switched to hybrid cloud and
hyperconverged infrastructure in efforts to increase efficiency and productivity while enhancing frontline customer
services.