City of London Supported Housing Incident Reporting Procedure Policy purpose Policy scope Legal requirements Definition of Responsibilities Mandatory procedures Practical guidance Related - Serious incident - Abuse - All - Incidents to be reported - Policies and Procedures - Forms and Templates -Training Page Contact Officer Kate Bowen Date Amended January 2012 Date Approved January 2012 Date of Commencement February 2012 Date for Next Review March 2013
Purpose 1. This policy seeks to clarify the City of London s position on the reporting, recording and management of serious incidents within supported housing schemes, and involving supported housing residents where a CoL employee is aware of an incident taking place. 2. Serious incidents in supported housing are uncommon, but when they occur the City of London has a responsibility to ensure there are systematic measures in place for safeguarding both the people involved and the reputation of the City of London and its staff. This includes responsibility to learn from these incidents to minimise the risk of them happening again. The City s role relating to serious incidents is to ensure that the appropriate management is in place across the system, is followed robustly, and is reviewed regularly. 3. All providers are required to have a policy which details the process for describing, recording, investigating, and reporting incidents as well as reviewing outcomes of any serious or untoward incident. This policy sets out the City of London guidance on the reporting of incidents; i.e. what is to be reported, to whom, and by what timescale. 1. Scope 4. This policy applies to sheltered Scheme Managers and all Supporting People providers under contract with the City of London with respect to reporting, actioning and documenting particulars of serious incidents. However, it is expected that all City of London staff, members of partner agencies, stakeholders and residents including permanent and temporary staff, agency staff and staff seconded to the organisation, suppliers and those providing services under a contract with the City both report any incident and co-operate at all stages during the procedure dealing with any serious incident. Legal requirements 5. The City of London is aware of its legal responsibilities under the following: Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. This Act can be viewed online at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/47/contents The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). This Act can be viewed online at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1995/3163/contents/made Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999. This Act can be viewed online at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/3242/contents/made The Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This Act can be viewed online at http://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm
Definition 6. A serious incident may be accidental or non-accidental, and either causes or has serious potential to cause harm to a person s physical, mental or emotional wellbeing. It is almost always illegal and should be treated as a matter of urgency. 7. For the purpose of this guidance, City of London requires service providers to report any incident that adversely affects the provision of the support service, including, but not limited to the following list: Death including suicide, murder, accident-related and neglect (not age-related natural causes in sheltered accommodation) Serious injury as a result of an attack or accident on the premises (i.e. injuries requiring medical treatment (e.g. broken arms, legs, ribs) Serious accident and illness that requires admission to hospital Incidents in connection with admission to psychiatric units that have caused substantial disturbance to neighbours Threats to kill or injure made by or to a service user Use of weapons by, or against, any service user or associated person (partner, friend, family member etc.) Any form of sexual abuse, rape, paedophilia, (The SP Team do not require the intimate details but there is a need to know the type of incident and that the correct action has been taken) Issues to do with child protection/abuse Vulnerable adult abuse Harassment including racial harassment Fire outbreak Any incident of arson Missing people Drug dealing on the premises Any other incident that gives rise to serious concerns 8. If service providers are uncertain whether an incident is sufficiently serious to report they should either report it in order to be on the safe side or consult the Supported Housing Manager. Mandatory procedures Reporting Procedure 9. All serious incidents are to be reported to the Supported Housing Manager as soon as practically possible following the event. In the first instance the provider should telephone the Supported Housing Manager within twenty-four hours during the week and within forty-eight hours at weekends; this should be followed up with a corroborating email to the Supported Housing Manager marked URGENT. Cases which are likely to attract media interest should be reported immediately
10. When such incidents occur out of office hours, providers should telephone the Council emergency/out of hours number to provide details, and then report to the Supported Housing Manager on the next working day. The emergency/out of hours number should be kept at the front of the policies and procedures file, and can also be found on the City s website. 11. Examples of such incidents include serious violence resulting in death or critical injuries, police raids involving terrorism or other major crime such as murder, rape or serious incidents involving children. 12. This again should be followed up with a corroborating email to the Supported Housing Manager marked URGENT. 13. The initial report will cover all known details including: Date and time of incident Description of the incident All parties involved including full name of service users and staff and others where known. Date of birth of service users. Details of any care coordinator/social worker from the City or other Local Authority, NHS Mental Health Trust or similar body Involvement of emergency services Immediate action taken Further action required Any additional details that may be helpful/important 14. Whilst the initial report may be made by telephone, an incident reporting form Form IR1) should be completed and submitted to the Supported Housing Manager within three working days. 15. Subsequent information may be required from the service provider and any relevant persons as directed by the Supported Housing Manager; this will include a final written report setting out the outcome of the incident, including any lessons learned and how any contributory factors can be reduced. This must be submitted within 14 working days of the incident. 16. The Supported Housing Manager will liaise with the appropriate partner agencies to manage and remedy the incident in a timely and appropriate manner. This includes sharing the incident documentation with the appropriate Supporting People Team in line with the local contract requirements. Contact Details Supported Housing Team 020 7332 3582 / 3765 Out of hours 020 7606 3030
Related Policies and Procedures Protection of Vulnerable Adults (safeguarding) Lone Worker Policy First Aid Policy Challenging behaviour policy Confidentiality policy Whistleblowing Policy Related Forms and Templates Incident reporting form Related Training First Aid Handling Difficult Conversations Body Language Lone Working Risk Assessment How to Handle Aggression Health and Safety
FORM IR1 City of London Supported Housing Incident Reporting Form Please complete this page (and sections 1 & 2) when making an initial report to the Supported Housing Team - to be submitted within three working days of the incident. Section 3 to be completed and submitted to the Supported Housing Team within 14 working days of the incident. Service name: Name of Officer completing form: Other staff involved (if any): Name of service user involved: DoB and age of service user involved: Ethnicity of service user involved: Disability of service users involved: Date and time of incident:
Section 1: Information gathering & immediate action taken 1. Description of incident (what happened, where, when, involving whom?) 2. Details of emergency services and other external agencies involved or contacted (include details of emergency services, such as police names and identity numbers) 3. Is there any additional information that may help explain the incident? (E.g. history between service users involved, previous incidents, existing support needs etc) 4. Were there any witnesses? (If yes please provide details) 5. Record all immediate actions taken (Warnings or notices issued, external professionals informed etc)
Section 2: Supporting the service user 6. Has the service user s risk assessment been updated? (Record the date you updated the risk assessment or the date this needs to be done) 7. Did any service users involved experience any harassment? (If yes, please provide details) 8. Detail what support has been provided to the service user(s) involved 9. Could steps have been taken to prevent the incident? (Review staff actions and identify any learning and development) Please complete to this point and send to the Supported Housing Manager within three working days of the incident. Please complete and submit section 3 (below) within 14 working days of the incident.
Section 3: Resolution and feedback 10. Future action(s) required to resolve and or prevent incident reoccurring (Details of any investigation required, review adherence to policy and need for policy review) 12. Has a completed incident report been emailed back to the Scheme Manager for learning opportunities? (To be discussed with individual staff and or at team meeting as appropriate, record date sent) 13. Has the Scheme Manager received feedback on the incident and have any learning opportunities for staff and residents been discussed? (To be done in team meetings or handovers) Please save the completed form electronically, print a copy for your records and email a copy to your local Supporting People team within 14 working days of the incident.