Serious Incident Reporting Purpose of the policy The Organisation, under the Disability Services Act 1993, has a responsibility to report incidents as defined in the Act to the Disability Services Commission. Incidents to be reported include: Introduction The Disability Services Act section 25(4) states it is compulsory for service providers (funded services) to report to the Disability Services Commission any death or non trivial injury (including physical, psychological and sexual abuse or neglect), to a person in their care. The intent of the legislation is to safeguard people with disabilities and to make service providers more accountable. In addition to the above reporting, under the General Provisions of Service Agreement, Clause 3.7, service providers are also required to report all serious incidents. The Commission is to report to the Minister and the Disability Services Commission Board on a quarterly basis. The Commission will also monitor and initiate any follow up action that may be required. Definition of Serious Incident A serious incident will be recorded where: a) the death of a person with a disability who is a current service user b) serious physical injury of a person with disability who is a current service user
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c) serious avoidable illness (for example food poisoning or instances where medication has been wrongly administered) of a person with disability who is a current service user d) abuse or neglect of a person with disability who is a current service user e) the person is judged as posing a serious risk to the health, safety or welfare of themselves or others f) exploitation or unauthorised restrictive practices 1 used with a person with disability who is a current service user; and g) an assault on staff or a visitor to the service by a person with disability who is a current service user. Service Provider Reporting Responsibility The responsibility for reporting all serious incidents rests with the service provider which is providing services to the individual where and when the incident occurred. Reporting Format to Disability Services Commission Whenever a serious incident has occurred, the service provider must ensure that the matter is reported to the Commission in writing using the Commission’s notification of serious incident reporting system. It is expected that the CEO or Head of the service organisation will review and sign off on all serious incident reports. It is important that action is taken to minimise the consequences of the serious incident and where possible prevent a serious incident of that kind or similar nature from occurring in the future. A serious incident report (SIR) form should be completed for each individual with a disability even if several individuals are involved in one incident. Also, if several incidents occur involving one individual each incident needs to be reported separately. All relevant sections should be completed with as much information as is available and should include relevant internal reports. Any additional information should be included as an attachment. External Investigation Where the matter involves potential for criminal charges such as sexual abuse or serious physical abuse of a person with a disability by a staff member or contractor of the service provider it is essential that the service provider ensure Police are consulted as part of the process of external investigation. Should it be considered inappropriate to notify Police or to undertake an alternative form of external investigation the reasons for this must be detailed in section 11.
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Restrictive practices which have not been approved as part of a behaviour support plan review process
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Where the matter involves a child under the age of 18 years the Commission is required to report the incident to the Department for Child Protection (DCP). If DCP are not advised as part of the reporting sequence, an explanatory memorandum to the Commission’s Director General must be attached to the SIR detailing the reasons why DCP were not notified. Where statutory agencies such as Police, Department for Child Protection, Office of the Public Advocate and the Coroner are involved this needs to be recorded in the Action Plan and include details of when this occurred and who was informed. Timelines All serious incidents must be reported to the Commission within seven (7) days. Confidentiality of Information Reports of serious incidents will be kept confidential, in accordance with the Disability Services Act and/or other relevant legislation that is applicable unless disclosure is required in the public interest. Completed Forms For funded organisations completed forms should be sent to Director Corporate and Business Services Disability Services Commission PO Box 441 West Perth WA 6872 Or faxed to: 9226 2306 For Commission staff completed forms should be returned to the relevant Director who will then forward them on to the Director Corporate and Business Services. The Commission may initiate any follow-up action deemed necessary. Enquiries Enquiries about serious incident reporting should be directed to the Service Resource Consultant on 9426 9200. **Failure to comply with this policy will be viewed seriously and may,
result in disciplinary action, that may include dismissal
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Review of the Policy This policy will be reviewed on a two-yearly basis. However, if at any time the legislative, policy or funding environment is so altered that the policy is no longer appropriate in its current form, the policy shall be reviewed immediately and amended accordingly.
