No day is the same within the care world.
We know that.
But there are things we need to do to ensure our clients and team are safe. Sometimes things can happen which can cause an incident to occur.
This incident could be minor or major – but they all need to be documented, and we all need to learn how best to respond to the incident at hand (and find out why it happened in the first place).
There are some incidents that need to be escalated, not only to the police and other emergency services, but to the NDIS Commission. So how do we know which ones are which?
Read on for our breakdown of incident management within the care sector.
What is an incident?
The NDIS Commission (which ensures all care provided under the NDIS is safe and of high-quality) states than an incident is:
“an act, omission, event or circumstance.
It may mean any of the following:
• Acts, omissions, events or circumstances that occur in connection with providing NDIS supports or services to a person with disability and have, or could have, caused harm to the person with disability
• Acts by a person with disability that occur in connection with providing NDIS supports or services to the person with disability and which have caused serious harm, or a risk of serious harm, to another person
• Reportable incidents that have or are alleged to have occurred in connection with providing NDIS supports or services to a person with disability”
Is every incident reportable?
No, not every incident is reportable to the NDIS Commission, but every incident that occurs within our care needs an incident report written.
We need to document everything that goes on, especially if it could impact someone’s safety or wellbeing.
We know that sounds confusing, but, effectively, a ‘reportable incident’ means that the NDIS Commission needs to be told about it.
What is considered a reportable incident?
The NDIS Commission states that a reportable incident is as follows:
“Reportable incidents are serious incidents or alleged incidents which result in harm to an NDIS participant and occur in connection with NDIS supports and services.
Specific types of reportable incidents include:
•The death of a person with disability.
•Serious injury of a person with disability.
•Abuse or neglect of a person with disability.
•Unlawful sexual or physical contact with, or assault of, a person with disability (excluding, in the case of unlawful physical assault, contact with, and impact on, the person that is negligible).
• Sexual misconduct committed against, or in the presence of, a person with disability, including grooming of the person for sexual activity.”
The use of a restrictive practice such as restraining a client or saying no to a client when they ask for something is also a reportable incident if the restrictive practice used is not written down in a behaviour plan (written by a Behaviour Support Practitioner).
What should be in an incident report?
When writing an incident report (reportable to the Commission or not), you need to have as much information as possible. Otherwise, it doesn’t help us improve our services and the support of our clients.
Your incident report should contain:
- Time and date of incident
- Location
- Who was involved
- What happened before the incident occurred/what triggered the incident?
- Type of incident
- Details of the incident
- Immediate actions taken
- Injuries or damage (if relevant)
- Who was notified about the incident
An incident report needs to be saved to a client’s file and an incident register, and then escalated to the Commission if it falls under the ‘reportable incident’ description.
What other incidents that might occur?
Incidents can be minor, but they all need to be written down in an incident report.
•A client almost slips on a wet floor
•A client leaves the oven on
•A client swears at a member of staff or another client
•A client screams very loudly and is distressed about something
•A client hits an inanimate object or space, such as kicking a wall or pushing a chair over
•A client refuses to do something
•A client went for a wander
Usually we consider an incident to be something where the client could have been in danger, or the client was triggered by something causing their behaviour to change.
People can be confused by the use of the word incident, and only see it as something that’s quite shocking to witness, but all it means is an act that could have been dangerous, or one that could have escalated or one that has escalated to an unsafe standard.
Incidents can be behavioural, physical, verbal or trauma-fuelled.
What could cause an incident?
A client might engage in something potentially dangerous or cause danger to themselves or others if they are triggered by something.
A trigger could be anything from:
- Being ignored
- Having something they like taken away from them (i.e. a cigarette)
- Bright lights
- Loud noises
- Medication adjustment
- Trauma
- Having someone new around them
- Feeling vulnerable
- Sensing danger
- Not understanding something
- Being hungry
- Being thirsty
That’s why it’s good to be aware of what ‘triggers’ a person and avoid it as much as possible.
Key takeaways
Incident reporting is vital to protect our clients and our team. Though there are varying degrees of incidents, it all needs to be documented and reported to the NDIS Commission (if it’s a ‘reportable incident’).
Writing down incidents and adding this to a client’s file, risk assessment, safety plan and their care plan helps inform us of how to support them.
It means we can avoid certain incidents by understanding what caused them – it also means we can learn how to support our clients when they are triggered by something.
At Kimberley Care Group, each day is a learning curve. We want to support our clients safely and professionally, and sometimes that can mean a lot of paperwork.
Check out our other articles to see how we’re navigating the NDIS in the Kimberley today.
References:
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-02/poster-incident-response_0 (.pdf)
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/providers/registered-ndis-providers/reportable-incidents-0