What is the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS)?

The Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) is a government initiative and subsequent reporting system implemented to reduce abuse and neglect of older people receiving aged care services.

SIRS is a mandatory requirement for approved aged care providers, including residential aged care homes and home care services (encompassing Home Care Packages, the Commonwealth Home Support Programme and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program).

The implementation of SIRS is imperative to meet the Aged Care Quality Standards. SIRS responds to Standard 6, which is centred on ‘Feedback and Complaints’ and Standard 8, which focuses on ‘Organisational Governance’.

What incidents are reported under the SIRS?

Under the Serious Incident Report Scheme, providers and aged care workers are required to report incidents that fall into the following eight categories:

Type of incident	Examples
Unreasonable use of force	Hitting Pushing Shoving Rough handling
Unlawful sexual conduct or inappropriate sexual conduct	Sexual threats Stalking Sexual activities without consent
Neglect	Withholding personal care Untreated wounds Insufficient assistance during meals
Psychological or emotional abuse	Yelling Name-calling Ignoring Making threatening gestures Refusing access to care or services as a means of punishment
Unexpected death	The provider didn’t take reasonable steps to prevent a death A death results directly from something the provider did or didn’t do
Stealing or financial coercion by a staff member	Coercing someone to change their will Stealing valuables
Inappropriate use of restrictive practices	Using a restrictive practice without prior consent Using a restrictive practice in a non-emergency situation Issuing a drug to influence someone’s behaviour as a form of restrictive practice
Unexplained absence from care	Someone is absent from the service without explanation, and there are reasonable grounds to report the absence to the police

 

If an incident doesn’t fall into these categories, you don’t need to follow the above procedure, but you may still need to make someone aware of what happened. The correct method to be followed will be outlined in your workplace’s Incident Management System.

Reporting SIRS incidents with an Incident Management System

An aged care worker must report a SIRS incident via the Incident Management System (IMS). The IMS will have:

• Ways to prevent incidents and how to manage them if they occur
• A method to document incidents as they arise and how to manage them
• Worker training to improve resident and patient safety

All incidents must be recorded, regardless of whether they have actually occurred or are just suspected. Not only serious or life-threatening incidents need to be documented, but near misses or close calls should also be noted. These are injuries, illnesses, or events that could have posed a danger to someone’s health.

A good IMS in a residential aged care home will have strict policies and procedures in place to ensure that reports are created with all the relevant information in the same manner. As an aged care worker, you should have access to information on the following:

• How to identify risks
• The roles and responsibilities of each member in the organisation
• How to provide support for those who are involved in the incidents
• How to investigate incidents

Roles workers play in the SIRS

The responsibility of implementing and managing an IMS lies with everyone in the business, including those working in non-direct care roles. As part of their duty of care, those working in a clinical position and directly caring for older people must be able to:

• Understand the IMS and how it works within their home
• Always ensure the safety of residents and workers
• Record incidents following exact policies, procedures and steps, and involving external stakeholders and parties if required

Managers of a residential care home have a responsibility to oversee the training of their staff to ensure that they are aware of their duties and know how to report incidents properly. Those working in a management position must:

• Implement an effective IMS
• Train staff on how to record incidents and refresh their skills over time to ensure the correct procedures are always followed
• Use the IMS correctly
• Report incidents to external parties if needed
• Always seek to continuously improve training and processes

Steps involved in managing incidents within the SIRS

The steps below are outlined in the IMS cycle. These need to be followed to prevent and manage an incident.

1. Building a safe culture

Preventable measures should be enforced within a residential aged care home to stop incidents before they occur. This involves outlining a good safety culture around managing incidents and mitigating risks. Managers of residential aged care homes are responsible for developing and strengthening a culture built on solid relationships, and listening and feedback. This is vital to meet the requirements of the SIRS.

2. and 3. Responding, recording and reporting incidents

When an incident occurs, you must immediately report this using the appropriate method outlined in your place of work and make sure that there are no other risks present. During your recording, you must determine the level of impact on those involved.

During your reporting, you need to understand whether the incident should be reported to external parties and work to reduce potential harm. The health and well-being of those involved need to be your first priority.

Once this has happened, you must devise an incident response plan and remain open and honest with your colleagues. Incident reporting is built on a foundation of trust, and open disclosure training should be incorporated into training plans.

4. Analysing incidents

During incident reflection, a thorough analysis should happen to allow you to prevent them in the future. Steps included in this include:

1. Defining the problem
2. Determining the root cause
3. Developing possible solutions
4. Select and implement solutions
5. Evaluating outcomes

Depending on the severity of the incident, it may result in a more formal investigation.

5. Preventing incidents

Part of the final step is to determine what level of disciplinary action should be taken, if necessary. Actions taken to prevent or reduce the impact of the incident should be considered in all situations, as well as measures to reduce the likelihood of it occurring again.

Implementing a remedial action plan and reporting findings can help determine staff training in the future.

Further information on the aged care industry

If you are interested in enhancing your aged care career or are looking for more information on career opportunities available to you, view our available job roles and contact our team today to get started.