Is a fall a reportable incident under SIRS?
Not automatically. A fall on its own is not one of the reportable incident types under the Serious Incident Response Scheme, known as SIRS. However, a fall must be reported if it meets one of the reportable categories, for example if it resulted from neglect or led to an unexpected death.
Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS)
Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth)
Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, SIRS guidance
When a fall becomes reportable
You need to look at the cause and the outcome of the fall, not just the fall itself. A fall may be reportable as neglect if inadequate care or supervision contributed to it, or as an unexpected death if the person dies as a result. In some circumstances it could involve unreasonable use of force.
The reportable incident types
SIRS in aged care covers eight types of reportable incident, including unreasonable use of force, unexpected death, neglect, and inappropriate use of restrictive practices. A fall is only reportable when it falls within one of these categories.
If in doubt, assess and record
When you are not sure, assess the incident against the reportable categories and record your reasoning. Even when a fall is not reportable under SIRS, providers still have incident management obligations, so every fall should be recorded, reviewed and acted on to reduce the risk of it happening again.
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