Any incidents occurring at Epworth should be reported to the department manager or assigned delegated as soon as possible. Those involved have responsibilities, including ensuring person/s involved in the incident are given immediate support and treatment and that the surroundings are made safe to prevent further incidents. Those involved must facilitate all incifdents to be notified via the Incident Management System, RiskMan™ and require investigation by the Department Manager/Delegate and review by the Incident Reviewer (OHS Advisor or Quality Coordinator) to determine what happened, how, why, what can be done to reduce recurrence and how to provide a safer environment.
An incident
An incident is defined as:
- Non-patient related: An event which has resulted in injury to a person or caused ill-health, damage or loss
- Patient related: An incident or circumstances that could have, or did lead to unintended and/or unnecessary harm (Australian Council Safety and Quality in Healthcare)
All of the below incidents are reportable via Riskman:
A near miss
A near miss is a potential for harm or system error which is intercepted prior to the completion of the incident/event.
A notification
A notification is the reporting of events that Epworth require to ensure safe practice and that may require follow-up to ensure further injury is not sustained.
An adverse event
An adverse event is an unintended injury or complication resulting in disability or prolongation of a hospital stay and is caused by healthcare management rather than patient disease or condition.
A sentinel event
A sentinel event is a relatively infrequent, clear-cut event occurring independently of a patients condition. Such an event commonly reflects hospital system and process deficiencies and can result in unnecessary outcomes for a patient.
Details of incident management are available in the Incident Management protocol.
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