Breaches of organisational policies and procedures can indicate serious underlying issues within an organisation and can undermine the rights and wellbeing of people receiving services.
If a procedure is not followed, the person receiving services could be at risk or harmed. For example, in a residential facility, failure to follow emergency procedures, infection control measures or security protocols may result in illness, injury or death.
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Recognise breaches
In community services organisations, workers and people receiving services form a network of mutual obligations, rights and responsibilities. Each party needs to work cooperatively to ensure that these are met to the benefit of all. Identifying and reporting breaches are essential to this process.
To prevent harm, you need to recognise potential or actual breaches. In some sectors, such as domestic and family violence, breaching confidentiality and privacy could result in a vulnerable person being attacked or killed. Breaching organisational policies and procedures for service provision may result in people not receiving services essential to their wellbeing. This may in turn result in reputational and other damage to the organisation.
Potential breach
A potential breach is when a situation has the capacity to develop into an actual breach. By identifying a potential situation, you can intervene to ensure the potential breach does not escalate into an actual breach. For example, if you notice that a support meeting has been scheduled and the person receiving support has not been included in the meeting, you need to identify this as a potential breach of the person’s rights to be involved in the decision-making process.
If you are aware that a person receiving support is unhappy with a service, you need to explain the complaints process. If the person’s concern is disregarded, the situation has the potential to escalate into a breach of complaints management.
Many vulnerable people receive community services. Legislation, service standards, codes of ethics, practice standards and organisational policies and procedures are designed to protect and empower these people. Recognising potential breaches is vital in supporting their rights and protecting their wellbeing.
Actual breach
An actual breach is when a situation or incident has occurred. For example, if information has been disclosed inappropriately about a person’s support needs, it is a breach of privacy and confidentiality.
If an incident involving a child neglect has not been reported, that is a breach of mandatory reporting.
Some breaches may not be as obvious as others. If you are unsure about whether a breach has occurred or not, double-check your organisation’s policies and procedures and ask for your supervisor’s advice. If you think your supervisor is contributing to or overlooking a breach, seek advice from another manager or an external standards authority.
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ImportantReport a breach
The aim of reporting and responding to breaches is to benefit all parties by ensuring that only quality services are provided.
Where possible, breaches should be reported and dealt with at the level at which they occur. For example, a simple breach of a procedure for cleaning up a work area should be dealt with at the level of the workers involved. A breach of policy regarding funding applications and tenders should be dealt with at management level. If the breach cannot be remedied through internal processes, it should be reported and referred to external bodies such as an ombudsman or to the relevant government authority.
When a community services worker or supervisor observes or becomes aware of a breach, there is an obligation to respond.
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Case study
Helene is an aged care worker in a low-care residential service. She arrives at Mrs Watson’s unit and assists her to take her morning medication. Helene notices that the blister pack for the previous evening still has tablets in it. Assisting Mrs Watson to take her evening medication is the responsibility of the worker on the previous shift. Helene talks to Mrs Watson about the tablets and calls the unit manager to let her know about the missed medication. Helene’s manager asks her to write down and take a photo on her phone of the tablets left in the evening blister pack.
On returning to the office, Helene completes an incident report and gives it to her manager. One of the missed medications is to control seizures, so the manager arranges for a support worker to spend the morning monitoring Mrs Watson. Helene has met her duty of care obligation by reporting the missed medication. The unit manager will investigate why the breach occurred and follow up with the relevant worker.
Reflect
Read the case study, and reflect on the following questions:
- How does Helene promptly reporting incidents of missed medication align with her duty of care?
- Considering the manager's response to the incident, why must care facilities have protocols in place for investigating and addressing breaches in care?
Record your responses on your digital device.