Policy and Procedure

Introduction

Decent Care Incident Management process ensures that each participant is safeguarded and that incidents are acknowledged, responded to and well managed. All incidents are dealt with promptly and in ways that are culturally appropriate. In line with this policy, incidents will be treated as a priority, keeping the participant informed and involving them in the resolution process. This policy complies with the NDIS (Incident Management and Reportable Incidents) Rules 2018 and NDIS (Quality Indicators) Guidelines 2018.

Purpose

This policy is intended to provide guidance in relation to the management of incidents in accordance with internal requirements and NDIS reporting requirements.

Scope

Decent Care’s Participant Incident Management System includes, but is not limited to, incidents that consist of acts, omissions, events, or circumstances that occur in connection with providing services to people with disability and have or could have caused harm to the person with disability. The incident management system also includes incidents that consist of acts by a person with disability and have cause serious harm, or risk of serious harm to another person. This policy applies to all Decent Care’s stakeholders, including participants, families, carers, advocates, team members, students, contractors, other service providers, government agencies and members of the community. All Decent Care’s team members are trained in and comply with the requirements of this Policy.

Policy

Decent Care is committed to managing incidents in an accountable, transparent, timely and meaningful way and in the most direct way possible. Any individual, stakeholder or agency wishing to report an incident in relation to Decent Care service provision will be provided with information regarding the organisations Incident Management policy and procedure. All instances will be heard respectfully and with a willingness to assist the person making the report. Upon recruitment, all team members must undergo an induction process that includes training and information in relation to Decent Care incidents processes. Additional on-the-job and formal training will be provided where required. Decent Care is committed to the following incident management principles:

Ensuring participants are aware of how Decent Care manages incidents when entering the service
Ensuring the immediate safety of participants and Decent Care team members
Identify and report incidents as soon as practicable after the event
Assist people to report an incident in whatever way is meaningful for them and in a language or communication method that is appropriate
Protect confidentiality and privacy of people affected by incidents
Investigate incidents and report fairly, objectively and professionally
Remain open and accountable in dealing with any incident; and
Integrate incident analysis information into Decent Care’s continuous improvement process.

Decent Care’s Incident Management System provides for collection of statistical and other information relating to incidents to enable Decent Care to analyse trends, systemic issues and to report these findings to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission if required. Decent Care understand that failure to comply with the incident management requirements of the NDIS legislation and rules may lead to the NDIS Commissioner taking compliance and enforcement action against the organisation.

Procedure

Incident management processes are provided to the participant in the Welcome Pack in an appropriate language, terms or mode of communication. Any stakeholder wanting to report an incident report can do so. Decent Care will afford all reporters the highest standard of confidentiality. Incident matters will only be discussed with those on a need-to-know basis and will not be a matter of discussion between any other individuals. All documentation will be retained in a secure place and in compliance with all privacy policies and legislation.

Decent Care incident triage process:

Once the initial triage has been applied, the Program Manager and Managing Director of Operations (where required) will undertake an investigation to identify the root causes and apply the appropriate remedial action. Once an incident report is lodged an alert is sent to the Decent Care office and the incident information is entered onto the Incident Register. Correspondence regarding the outcome of the incident resolution is provided to the participant. Investigation of incidents will not be conducted by a person about whom was involved in the incident.

All team members will handle incidents with:

Courtesy and encouragement
Sensitivity to the needs of the participant
In a supportive manner
Efficiency and effectiveness
Timeliness
Empathy by sharing other people’s feelings and perspectives of issues involved
Communicate mindfully, and
Provide details regarding external support agencies that may assist them with complaints/incidents resolution if required.

Findings and Outcomes
Individuals or parties with a report of an incident may make contact directly with the NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission, should the issue remain unresolved, dealt with unsatisfactory or at any time in the management process.

NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission

1800 035 544 – Interpreters can be arranged
NDIS Commission

Reportable Incident- see also Appendix A

Reportable incidents will be notified to the NDIS Commission within 24 hours of the event, with a more detailed report about the incident and actions taken in response to it provided within five (5) business days. Any instance of unauthorised use of restrictive practice will be notified by the Program Manager to the NDIS Commission within five (5) business days of a provider’s key personnel being made aware of it. If there is harm to a participant, it will be reported within 24 hours. Any updated or new information that comes to hand after the event, will be provided in writing to the Commissioner. If required, a final report will be provided within 60 business days of initial report. The NDIS Commission will advise Decent Care whether a final report is required. Where a reportable incident occurs in connection with the provision of services by the provider and does not include those outlined in Appendix A, Decent Care will ensure that all internal reporting documentation is completed.

In all cases, Decent Care will assess:

The impact on the NDIS participant
Whether the incident could have been prevented
How the incident was managed
What, if any, changes are required to prevent further similar events occurring.

Incident Monitoring and Review
As part of Decent Care’s commitment to quality management and continuous improvement, Decent Care maintains all incident information using the Incidents Register. Adopting a process as such assists to review service performance and progress through ensuring that the list is analysed for repeat issues enabling opportunities for identification of service improvement. The register includes the following:

Identification
Details including root causes
Who was involved in the incident
Preventative action that has/will be undertaken
Incident handling improvement strategies; and
Incident handling Improvement implementation.

The register will be reviewed and updated at a minimum of once per month as part of Decent Care Managing Directors Review process or unless required sooner due to high incident occurrences. The statistical data will be provided to the NDIS Commissioner if it is deemed to be required. Records for incidents will be kept for seven (7) years in line with the NDIS (Incident Management and Reportable Incidents) Rules 2018

Incidents Relating to Violence, Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation and Discrimination
Decent Care takes reports of violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation, and discrimination very seriously. It is mandatory for any report of abuse or neglect reported to Decent Care by team members, participants, families, carers and other stakeholders or members of the public to be reported by Decent Care to the Police and to any relevant external agency. Any reports of these natures are to be immediately forwarded to the Managing Directors. See Violence, Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation and Discrimination Policy.

Responsibilities

The Managing Directors are responsible for:

Reporting any reportable incidents to the NDIS Commission (where required)
Approving and monitoring the implementation of this policy and recording any changes within the Policy Version Control Register
Reviewing the incident register to identify trends and continuous improvement actions
Responding to requests from the NDIS Commission in relation to Incidents
Leading investigation of reportable incidents

Program Managers are responsible for:

Ensuring all team members have been provided with training in relation to this policy as required
Investigating incidents
Liaising with the participant and support network post-incident
Providing de-briefing opportunities to team members involved in the incident.
Reporting any reportable incidents to the NDIS Commission
Supporting team members to complete an incident report where required
Ensure Incidents are recorded on the Incident Register
Identifying team members incident training needs within their teams and actioning
Following Decent Care Incident Management Procedures
Completing an incident report within 24 hours of the incident occurring and escalating to the Managing Directors where reportable

Team members are responsible for:

Following Decent Care Incident Management Procedures
Completing an incident report within 24 hours of the incident occurring which will be provided to their Program Manager
Participating in a debrief with their Program Manager and/or the Managing Director of Operations after an incident occurring
Ensuring they are aware and understand this policy and seek clarification where unsure.