Neglect

Has the provider, a worker or responsible person of the provider been reckless or intentionally negligent in delivering a funded care service to the older person?

Yes

No

Has the incident caused or contributed (including recklessly or intentionally) to a significant failure to deliver a care service to the older person, or a systemic pattern of neglectful conduct?

Yes

No

Has a grossly inadequate funded care service been delivered to the older person?

Yes

No

Has the care service delivered to the older person exposed them to risk of serious injury or illness?

Yes

No

Did the incident arise from an older person deciding to refuse the delivery of funded aged care services?

Yes

No

Was the older person fully informed of the consequences of their choice of delivery method or non-delivery of care services and was the choice not to receive care and services in line with their assessed care need documented?

Yes

No

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

Yes

No

Did the incident cause an older person physical injury or discomfort that requires medical treatment to resolve?

Yes

No

Did the incident cause an older person 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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