Victorian Government Health Information

An incident that resulted in harm to a person receiving health care.

An event or circumstance that could have, or did lead to unintended and/or unnecessary harm to a person receiving care.

Clinical incidents include adverse events, near misses and hazards in the environment that pose a clinical risk.

A complaint or positive statement made by a service user to the service provider.

Harm includes disease, injury, suffering, disability, and death - where disease, suffering and disability are defined as follows.

Disease: a physiological or psychological dysfunction.

Suffering: experiencing anything subjectively unpleasant. This may include pain, malaise, nausea, vomiting, loss (any negative consequence, including financial) depression, agitation, alarm, fear or grief.

Disability: any type of impairment of body structure or function, activity limitation and/or restriction of participation in society, associated with a past or present harm.

A circumstance or agent that can lead to harm, damage or loss.

An event or circumstance that lead – or could have lead - to unintended or unnecessary harm.

A score of 1, 2, 3 or 4 measures the severity of the impact (harm) caused to either a person or organisation following an incident. The ISR can also be used to measure the potential severity of impact (PISR). The ISR is calculated based on the responses to three questions.

A culture in which frontline personnel feel comfortable disclosing errors - including their own - while maintaining professional accountability.

An incident that had the potential to cause harm but didn't, due to timely intervention and/or luck and/or chance.

OHS incident, defined as 'an event or circumstance that could have resulted, or did result, in unintended or unnecessary harm to a staff member, contractor, visitor or other non-health care recipient'.

The process of open communication with patients and their families following an adverse event.
Open Disclosure for Victorian health services: a guide book DHS, 2008 pp1

A patient refers to patient/client/resident

Classification of the main incident being reported.

Classification of incidents that occurred at the same time as the primary incident but were of a secondary nature and did not necessarily contribute to the primary incident.

Methodology followed in performing a detailed and thorough investigation.