Resident falls - are they reportable under the Serious Incident Response Scheme?

Welcome to O'Loughlins on air, a podcast on current legal issues in health, aged care and retirement living . 

In this episode, we look at the Serious Incident Response Scheme (or SIRS) in residential aged care and when a resident fall will be reportable to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. 

We look at examples from information published by the ACQSC to help explain this.

Here are some of the key points from the podcast:

1.  Not every fall will be reportable to the ACQSC under the SIRS.  The circumstances of a fall need to come within one of the eight categories of reportable incidents to be reportable to the ACQSC.

2. Also, the fall needs to occur in connection with the provision of residential aged care.  If it occurs outside of the provision of residential aged care but the provider later becomes aware of the fall, it may be an incident if harm is caused to the resident.  In that case, it must be dealt with as an incident under the provider's Incident Management System, but it would not be reportable to the ACQSC.  

3. If there are reasonable grounds to report an incident to police, this must be done regardless of whether the incident occurs during or outside of the provision of care.  

Disclaimer: This podcast and related resources are for general information only and are not to be relied on as legal or other advice.  Please consult with your legal advisor for advice about your particular circumstances.