The Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) is a government initiative to help reduce the risk of abuse and neglect for people living or staying in a residential aged care home. The scheme requires aged care providers to identify, record, manage, resolve and report all serious incidents that occur, or are alleged to suspected to have occurred, in a residential aged care service.
The SIRS requires every residential aged care service to adopt a systematic approach to minimizing the risk of, and responding to, serious incidents involving residents.
The SIRS underscores the vital importance of an incident management system in helping every residential aged care service to effectively manage risks to their residents.
A reportable incident includes any of the following:
- Unreasonable use of force.
- Unlawful sexual contact or inappropriate sexual conduct.
- Neglect.
- Psychological or emotional abuse.
- Unexpected death.
- Stealing or Financial coercion by a staff member.
- In appropriate physical or chemical restraint; and
- Unexplained absence from care.