What is our responsibility
We are responsible for providing services to participants with care in a safe manner, and taking measures to prevent abuse and neglect from harm. We recognise that the health, protection or well-being of people with disabilities can be impacted by such events.
We aim to reduce the likelihood of incidents (including near misses), but we have an incident management system to log, investigate and handle incidents in connexion with the provision of our services to you if they do occur.
If you plan to use our services, your Authentic Life Care service agreement will let you know we have an incident management process in place.
Our incident management framework was built on the basis of guidance provided by the 2018 NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and National Disability Insurance Policy (Incident and Reportable Incidents) Regulations.
What is an Incident?
- The death of participant
- Serious injury of a participant
- Abuse or neglect of a participant
- Unlawful sexual or physical contact with, or assault of, a participant
- Sexual misconduct committed against, or in the presence of, a participant, including grooming of the participant for sexual activity; and
- The unauthorised use of a restrictive practice in relation to a participant.
Key Steps for Incident Management:
Anyone may recognise and report an incident, such as one member of our team or a participant / nominee or a family member. An incident should be reported as soon as possible, so that we can take action if the incident is significant (reportable) or non-critical.
We will complete an internal incident form on the basis of the information you provide about the incident and record the details in our incident management system.
The incident will be reported to the appropriate supervisor / team leader, or to the Quality and Risk Manager in the absence of the supervisor / team leader. Information of our main incident management personnel can be found at (03) 9754 8706 by calling Authentic Life Care.
We can need to protect your health and safety and others' health and safety, and, if necessary, take emergency measures. Throughout the process, we will also be compassionate and attentive to the way you should respond to the experience of the incident and provide any necessary support and assistance.
Maybe at any point of the incident management process you want some help. That may be staff support, family support, friend support or advocacy service. An advocate may work with you, or work for you in a manner that reflects your needs. It is possible to find any ideas for advocacy groups using the Disability Advocacy Finder.
We will also ask you to provide input and feedback on evaluations, inquiries and any possible solutions or steps taken to address the incident.
We will assess all incidents to determine:
- Why the incident came about;
- If they could have avoided the incident
- How well they handled and resolved the incident
- Future initiatives in the field of prevention; and
- Who else is told of the incident.
We would also look at the impact of the event on the affected person and any organisational problems that could have contributed to the occurrence.
All reportable accidents, with the exception of the improper use of a restrictive procedure, must be reported by the Quality and Risk Manager to the NDIS commission within 24 hours after we become aware of the incident. If there is harm to the participant, any improper use of restrictive procedures must be informed within 5 days but reported within 24 hours.
We can also inform the police or related authorities of alleged crimes or, where necessary, inform guardians, family members or carers.
For reportable events, it will be decided by the NDIS Commission if any action is necessary