Digitising Incident Management in Aged Care to Protect Patient Safety and Align with the SIRS

In the aged care sector, unexpected incidents can occur on a daily basis—ranging from medication errors, sub-standard care, and accidents to allegations of abuse, neglect, and service failures. Managing & resolving these incidents effectively is not just about ensuring patient safety; it’s also crucial for regulatory compliance and maintaining trust with families and the wider community.

In this blog we explain how aged care providers are digitising and automating their incident management processes to capture and resolve incidents quickly. Discover how online platforms are empowering aged care providers to capture and escalate incidents, meet the requirements outlined in the Serious Incident Reporting Scheme (SIRS), and automate reporting – to learn from past incidents. Plus, we’ll explain how further integrating incident processes with risk management, governance, controls, and regulatory requirements can provide further insights to improve patient safety and quality of care.

Why Incident Management is Crucial in Aged Care

When dealing with elderly residents with complex health problems, incidents can quickly escalate into life-or-death situations. Therefore, it is vitally important for aged care providers to have well-structured processes in place to capture and resolve incidents quickly. It is not just about managing individual incidents, aged care providers must learn from their incident data so they can put measures in place to prevent similar issues from occurring. It is also important to identify areas where staff have not adhered to policies and governance procedures to ensure accountability. Aged care providers must also ensure their incident management processes align with the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) or they could face regulatory prosecutions and fines.

What is the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS)?

The Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) was introduced by the Australian Government back in April 2021. The SIRS aims to improve safety and accountability in aged care by ensuring that incidents involving abuse, neglect, or other serious risks to residents are promptly reported to the authorities. Aged care providers must report incidents involving assault, neglect, unreasonable use of force, stealing, psychological or emotional abuse, unexplained absences or the misuse of medication, and must also track and respond to incidents like unexplained falls or injuries.

Providers must report incidents to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission within specific timeframes: within 24 hours for incidents involving serious harm or death, and within 30 days for less severe incidents. Providers are also required to keep a record of all incidents and take appropriate actions to manage risks and prevent future occurrences.

The SIRS framework requires aged care providers to:

• Identify and record incidents in a structured manner.
• Assess and classify incidents based on their severity.
• Report serious incidents to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission within required timeframes.
• Take immediate action to reduce harm and prevent recurrence.
• Implement continuous improvement strategies based on incident data.

Failure to comply with SIRS requirements can result in penalties, reputational damage, and, most importantly, a failure to protect vulnerable residents. Timely and thorough reporting to the authorities ensures that appropriate interventions can be made, and that the safety of residents is prioritised.

Why Traditional Incident Management Processes are Outdated & Inefficient

Many aged care providers have established their own incident reporting process using spreadsheet-based incident logs and forms that are circulated by email. Others are relying on legacy platforms and in-house tools. However, due to a lack of multiuser access, user tracking, data governance, and workflow automation, these processes can lead to inefficiencies, a lack of ownership, delayed incident responses, and poor-quality reporting outputs. Without a clearly defined best practice process, incidents or potential risks, hazards, and near misses can slip through the cracks, resulting in delayed incident response rates, a lack of ownership & accountability, and the inability to understand the causes of repeat incidents.

How GRC Software Can Automate Incident Management in Aged Care

GRC Software is transforming the way aged care providers manage incidents by facilitating best-practice processes that digitise and automate incident reporting, escalation, root-cause-analysis, and case management.

GRC software streamlines incident management by replacing manual processes with automation, providing real-time visibility into incident status, and ensuring compliance with SIRS requirements. Here’s how it works:

1. Online Incident Reporting and Automated Classification

GRC software enables caregivers and staff to log incidents in real time through intuitive online incident forms that feed straight into the digital platform. Forms can be customised based on different incident types, and users can upload, photos and documental evidence. The software automatically classifies each incident based on severity and urgency using predefined categories aligned with SIRS requirements – ensuring compliance from the outset. The tools can also be used for staff to log potential hazards and near-misses – enabling them to be proactively addressed before they escalate into full blown incidents.

2. Instant Notifications and Escalation Workflows

Once an incident is recorded, the system can automatically trigger alerts and escalations to the appropriate personnel. This ensures that serious incidents are reviewed and addressed without delay, reducing response times and minimising risks to patients. Automated workflows also facilitate the entire case management process – ensuring incidents are fully resolved and closed off.

3. Regulatory Reporting and Compliance Tracking

One of the biggest challenges in SIRS compliance is meeting strict reporting timelines. GRC software can generate pre-filled regulatory reports, ensuring that all necessary information is captured and submitted within the required timeframes. The best-practice processes facilitated by the software provides proof of alignment with SIRS requirements. Plus, the built-in dashboards and reports also allow compliance teams to monitor incident trends in real time. This enables them to introduce measures to prevent recurrence – ensuring continuous improvement.

4. Root Cause Analysis and Risk Prevention

By capturing and centralising incident data and facilitating case management, GRC software enables aged care providers to conduct root cause analysis and identify recurring issues. This allows management teams to implement targeted training programs, controls, governance, policies, process improvements, and preventative measures to enhance resident safety and reduce the likelihood of repeat incidents.

5. Data-Driven Decision-Making

GRC platforms offer powerful reporting and analytics tools, helping aged care providers identify trends, benchmark performance, and make informed decisions based on real incident data. By leveraging real-time insights, providers can shift from a reactive to a proactive risk management approach and improve service quality.

6. Enhanced Documentation and Audit Readiness

With automated incident logs, and a timestamped audit trail of how each case was managed and resolved, GRC software ensures complete transparency and readiness for regulatory audits. Having an accurate and easily accessible record of all incidents helps providers demonstrate compliance and continuous improvement efforts.

Mapping Incidents to Risks, Policies and Regulations

Another advantage of using an incident management solution that is part of a wider GRC platform is the ability to map incidents to any related risks, policies, regulations, or governance controls.

Many incidents are often risks on the risk register that have escalated into full blown incidents. Others may have occurred due to a failed control or safety check. It is important to be able to make those links to understand the root cause of incidents.

There may be cases where incidents could result in a breach of company policy where staff have not followed the correct process, other incidents could result in regulatory non-compliance. It is crucially important to understand how incidents relate to policies, governance procedures, and regulatory requirements to understand areas where further training or controls could reduce future incidents.

The Future of Incident Management in Aged Care

As regulatory expectations continue to evolve, aged care providers must embrace digital transformation to stay compliant, improve resident outcomes, and streamline operations. The incident management capabilities in GRC software provide a scalable, efficient, and compliant way to manage incidents, ensuring that providers meet SIRS requirements.

By automating incident reporting, tracking, and response, aged care providers can reduce administrative burden, improve accountability, and most importantly, deliver safer and higher-quality care to residents.

Are you ready to streamline your incident management process and ensure SIRS compliance? Explore how GRC software can transform your approach today, request a demo.

To discover more about how aged care providers are harnessing the power of technology to increase patient safety and quality of care access our ‘Aged Care Digitisation Pack’ or visit our website.