Pathways / Verification Overview
NDIS want to know:
Auditors want to see:
The ‘spiel’ is the text you will use in the body of your NDIS registration application. You need to understand it and change it if you are not able to do what it says.
The Incident Management Policy outlines the system your business has in place to acknowledge, record and manage any incidents.
Take your time to read this policy. It is quite complex as some incidents need to managed in a different way to others and reported to different authorities. These vary from State/Territory to State so you need to be certain you have the correct details for your jurisdiction. We have given you the links for key areas e.g. mandatory reporting, WorkSafe.
As most AHPs see a variety of clients and age groups, we have also provided guidance on incident reporting beyond NDIS participants (Note: this does not necessarily cover every situation for your client group / funding bodies). You can just delete any sections that are not relevant to your business e.g. if you do not provide services to children or older people.
The NDIS wants to know that you are VERY clear about what needs to be done for which incidents. This does NOT mean you and your team need to be able to recite the policy! Rather, you are aware of what needs to be reported to them and that you have a readily accessible and complete policy document and forms you can refer to for answers so you can respond accordingly.
They can see you:
The Incident and Complaint Report is the form you will fill in to formally acknowledge an incident or complaint.
It is a great form to record the nature of the incident or complaint and your intended follow-up actions.
If it is a client/participant incident you should also make a record in the client’s progress notes referring to this report.
They can see:
The Incident Investigation Form assists you to demonstrate your understanding of the need to investigate more serious incidents in order to prevent recurrence and possible harm to NDIS participants and others.
This form needs to be used if you feel there is any chance of litigation or if it is a notifiable incident. If you do need to undertake an in-depth investigation of an incident, we recommend best practice is to engage a third party to avoid conflict of interest.
This Worksafe Queensland resource is a useful guide to investigations. Whilst it is focused on worker injury, it also provides a great structure for trying to get to ‘root causes’.
They can see:
The Incident and Complaint Register maintains a history of:
It provides you with a management tool to ensure all incidents and complaints are managed effectively and you are actually following up with your intended actions.
This document assists you to demonstrate you follow the NDIS (Incident Management and Reportable Incidents) Rules 2018.
Auditors will particularly want to see at your next audit (in 3 years’ time) that the register has been actively used and the policy has been followed!
They can see:
The purpose of the NDIS Service Agreement is to ensure you and your participants have an agreed set of expectations as to how services will be delivered.
The Service Agreement sits alongside the Support Plan. The Service Agreement informs the participant of the general cost of services e.g. the hourly rate for service, the travel rate and the cancellation policy. Their Support Plan details the number of services and the associated cost. We feel this is preferable so when you review your Support Plan you do not need to issue a new full Service Agreement. If you have already set up a system that works for you, consider the need for change – it may not be necessary.
You need to demonstrate that you inform your participants:
Obtaining consent is critical – the NDIS Service Agreement summarises six different consents. Two of the consents are about participating in quality improvement activities. It is much easier to obtain this consent at the commencement of services.
They can see:
