Neglect

Was there a breach of a duty of care owed by the provider or a staff member to provide appropriate care and services to a consumer?

For examples of what constitutes a breach of a duty of care, refer to the SIRS provider guidelines on the Commission’s SIRS resources page.

Yes

No

Was there a gross breach of professional standards by a staff member in providing care and services to the consumer (or was this alleged or suspected)?

Yes

No

Has the consumer (who has been fully informed of the consequences) chosen not to receive care and services in line with their assessed care needs, and was this documented?

Yes

No

Was there a failure to assess and monitor a consumer resulting in poor health outcomes or clinical complications?

Yes

No

Did the incident cause (or could it reasonably have been expected to have caused) the consumer physical or psychological injury or discomfort that requires medical treatment to resolve?

Yes

No

Did the incident cause (or could it reasonably have been expected to have caused) the consumer physical or psychological injury or discomfort that requires psychological treatment to resolve?

Yes

No

Are there reasonable grounds to report the incident to the police?

Yes

No

The phrase ‘reasonable grounds’ may include scenarios where you are aware of facts or circumstances (alleged or known) that lead to a belief that an incident is potentially or likely to be of a criminal nature and therefore should be reported to police within 24 hours (e.g. if you as the provider suspect the incident involves an indecent assault, or if there is ongoing danger). If you become aware of reasonable grounds at a later time, you must notify the police within 24 hours of becoming aware of those grounds.

If you are in any doubt about whether an incident is of a criminal nature, make a report to the police. Police are the appropriate authorities to investigate and identify whether an incident may involve criminal conduct.

Not reportable

Based on the information you have provided it appears that your incident is not a reportable incident under the SIRS.

However this incident, like all incidents, should be managed using your service’s Incident Management System, or IMS.

It is important that your IMS is able to record incidents in a way that allows you to identify patterns of incidents that may reflect an ongoing risk or systemic issue.

For more information, please refer to the Effective incident management systems: Best practice Guidance.

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Priority 1 reportable incident

Based on the information you have provided it appears that this incident is a Neglect – Priority 1 reportable incident under the SIRS.

Priority 1 incidents must be reported to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission within 24 hours of you becoming aware of the incident.

What do I do next?

You must take immediate and any ongoing action to ensure appropriate support is provided to the consumer and their family and make a Priority 1 notification to the Commission within 24 hours.

You must report the incident through the My Aged Care Provider Portal.

Go to My Aged Care Provider Portal

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Priority 2 reportable incident

Based on the information you have provided it appears that this incident is a Neglect – Priority 2 reportable incident.

Priority 2 incidents must be reported to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission within 30 days of you becoming aware of the incident.

Note:

It is your responsibility to initiate a timely response to every serious incident regardless of whether the incident is categorised as Priority 1 or 2. The timeframe for reporting a serious incident to the Commission is separate from and in no way modifies your obligation to respond speedily to all serious incidents.

You must report the incident through the My Aged Care Provider Portal.

Go to My Aged Care Provider Portal

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