Client incident report user manual
CIMS IT
Client incident management system
November 2017
To receive this publication in an accessible format phone 1300 024 863, using the National Relay Service 13 36 77 if required, or email the client incident management system team <>
Authorised and published by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne.
© State of Victoria, Department of Health and Human Services October 2017.
Available at client incident management system <https://providers.dhhs.vic.gov.au/cims>

Version control

Version / Date / Author
Version 1.0 / 1 November 2017 / Operations Performance and Quality branch

Contents

Version control 2

About this document 4

Client incident management system (CIMS) overview 4

CIMS Information Technology (IT) 4

Audience 4

Accessing CIMS IT 5

Before you get started 5

Reporting a client incident 6

Creating a new client incident report 6

Entering the service details 6

No address match 8

Entering the reporting officer details 10

Entering the incident dates on a client incident report 12

Recording the incident description details 14

Recording clients involved in the incident 15

Understanding the clients involved in the incident 21

Others involved in the incident 22

Submitting your client incident report 26

Completing the declaration and acknowledgement 26

Downloading a client incident report 28

Download your incident report 28

Saving a draft client incident report 30

Understanding the confirmation email 31

Returning to a saved client incident report 32

Appendix A: Department service area maps 33

List of department service areas 34

Appendix B: Sample client incident report 35

About this document

The client incident management system (CIMS) overview

The Department of Health and Human Services (the department) has developed a new client incident management system (CIMS) that focuses on the most serious incidents, and strengthens processes to respond to and manage client incidents.

The CIMS aims to:

•  ensure that timely and effective responses to client incidents address client safety and wellbeing

•  ensure effective and appropriate investigation of client incidents

•  ensure effective and appropriate review of client incidents

•  learn from individual incidents and patterns of client incidents, to reduce the risk of harm to clients, and improve the quality of services and the service system

•  ensure accountability of service providers to clients

•  protect and maintain the personal and sensitive information of clients, service provider staff, carers and others from whom a service provider collects personal information for the purposes of client incident reporting.

CIMS Information Technology (IT)

The CIMS IT has been developed by the department to support the implementation of the CIMS.

Registered service providers use two components of the department-built CIMS IT:

•  incident report webform

•  client incident register.

Audience

The Client incident report user manual is a guide to support service provider staff using the CIMS IT incident report webform to capture and report client incidents.

Accessing CIMS IT

If your organisation uses the department-built CIMS IT to report, record and submit client incidents, the details of all incidents should be recorded in the CIMS IT regardless of whether they are assessed as major impact or non-major impact incidents.

The landing page where you can select to create a new client incident report is pictured below.

Before you get started

CIMS helps you complete your report by providing a few tips and navigational tools along the way.

1.  Often you will see this purple link: these are tips or further information about the details you need to provide. Click on the link to reveal the tip.

2.  If you see: this is a reminder that information is missing and must be completed before you can move to the next screen.

3.  Some fields contain a list of items for selection. These items are provided to help you complete your report. Select an item from the list by clicking on it. These are the only responses allowed.

Reporting a client incident

The landing page gives you the option to either create a new client incident report, or return to one you started earlier and then saved as a draft.

Creating a new client incident report

When you first access the CIMS webform, the landing page is displayed. This is where you choose to create a new client incident report or return to a previously saved one.

Most fields are mandatory, meaning that they must be completed. If you have missed a mandatory field, you will get a prompt to complete it before you can move on to the next step.

1.  Select the radio button Create a new client incident report.

Radio buttons are used throughout CIMS. They offer you a choice between two or more options. When using radio buttons, select the one option that best suits your requirement.

2.  Click Proceed. The Service details screen is displayed.

To return to a saved incident report refer to Returning to saved client incident report.

Entering the service details

When you select Create a new client incident report, the first screen to come up is the Service details screen (as shown below). This section contains information about the organisation delivering the service to the client at the time the incident occurred or the organisation that was delivering the service when it was disclosed if the incident is an historical allegation.

Entering the service details (continued)

1.  Enter the Organisation name.

Start typing the name of your organisation that was providing the service during the time of incident or when the alleged incident was disclosed until it appears in the drop down list beneath.
Incidents occurring or being disclosed to services provided by the department should use the organisation name of Department of Health and Human Services.
For department funded organisations, select your organisation by typing in the first few letters of your organisations name until it appears in the drop down list.
If you cannot find your organisation’s name, please contact your direct management to enquire about the process of completing an incident report.
As you enter the name of your organisation, CIMS will scroll through the list of all registered organisations. Continue typing until your organisation is displayed in the list. Click on it to select.

2.  Enter the Address of service delivery.

Enter the address where the service was being provided to the client at the time of the incident or when the alleged incident was disclosed.
Note: for residential services, enter the facility’s full street address rather than the facility’s name.
For kinship or foster care, enter the full street address of the kinship or foster care placement.
Addresses entered will be validated by Google.
It’s important that you select the correct address. If the address you’re looking for is not listed, double check your spelling. If there is no match for your organisations address, continue to the No address match section and enter the address manually.

No address match

When entering addresses in CIMS, the system scrolls through its address list, enabling you to select an address. This could be the address of your organisation if you’re completing the reporting officer details, or entering the client’s details when completing the Clients involved in incident sections.

In the event that the address you’re looking for is not listed, you will need to manually enter it.

Follow the steps below.

1.  Select the No address match for my organisation checkbox.

2.  Enter the Street number and name.

This is the street number of the property (include the unit or flat number if relevant) and the name of the street of where the client lives, or the address of your organisation.

3.  Enter the Suburb/Town.

4.  Enter the State relevant to the address.

5.  Enter the Postcode relevant to the address.

Addresses entered here are single use only. You must enter them again if you are making additional incident reports for the same address.

6.  Continue completing the remaining details on the screen.

Entering the service details (continued)

3.  Click in the Area field to select the area of the service provided from the drop-down list available.

Area refers to the department service area where this service is delivered. For information about the department’s service areas, refer to Appendix A: Department service area maps.

4.  Click in the Program field to select the type of program provided from the drop-down list available.

The program is the type of program your organisation was providing to the client at the time of the incident.

5.  Click in the Service type field to select the type of service being provided from the drop-down list available.

Service type refers to the type of service your organisation was providing to the client at the time of the incident.
Ensure all fields are completed before clicking Next. If information is missing, you will receive a message highlighting the incomplete fields.

6.  Once all the fields have been completed, click Next to continue creating your client incident report.

If you close CIMS now, any details you have entered will be lost and you will need to start again. It is best practice to continue completing your client incident report while the details are fresh in your mind and you will avoid losing your work.

Entering the reporting officer details

This section contains information about the person responsible for completing the incident report. This person will be referred to as the incident reporting officer.

An example of the Reporting officer screen is provided below.

1.  Enter your Surname (family name).

Enter your surname (family name) as the person reporting this incident.

2.  Enter your Given name.

Enter your given (first) name as the person reporting this incident.

3.  Enter the Reporter’s job title.

This is your job or role title as the person reporting this incident.

4.  Enter your Telephone number.

This is the best telephone number to contact you on.
Telephone numbers must be between 8 and 15 digits with no spaces.

5.  Enter your Email address.

Enter the best business email address to contact you on. As the incident reporting officer, your email address is needed to enable the report to be saved.

6.  Click Next to continue creating your client incident report.

If you need to review or make changes to the service details page of your report, click the Back button.

If for any reason you need to leave your incident report, once you have completed the reporting officer details you can click the Save button and the information you’ve entered so far will be saved.

Refer to Saving a draft client incident report for further information.

Entering the incident dates on a client incident report

This section contains information about the date and time that the incident occurred, and when the service provider became aware of it.

This can include:

•  The exact date and time of the client incident if the reporting officer witnessed the incident.

•  An estimated date and time of the client incident if the reporting officer did not witness the incident or is not clear about the details.

•  The date and time the reporting officer became aware of the client incident if the reporting officer did not witness the incident but the client disclosed it.

An example of the Incident dates screen is provided below.

If for any reason you need to leave your incident report, once you have completed the reporting officer details you can click the Save button and the information you’ve entered so far will be recorded.

Refer to Saving a draft client incident report for further information.

1.  Enter the Date of incident.

This is the date that the incident occurred. If the exact date is unknown, enter an estimated date or the date you first became aware of the incident.

2.  Click in the Date accuracy field to select the accuracy of the date of the incident.

Select whether the date you provided is the exact or estimated date, or the date you first became aware of the incident.
Using Date accuracy:
•  Exact – you witnessed the incident occurring.
•  Estimated – you became aware that an incident occurred on a previous date.
•  As I was told – you were told about the incident happening on a particular date.

Entering incident dates on a client incident report (continued)

3.  Click in the Time of incident field to select the time the incident occurred.

Select the time the incident occurred. If the exact time is unknown, enter an estimated time or the time you first became aware of the incident. Select a time from the drop-down list that is the closest time – to the closest 15 minute bracket.
When recording the time, click in the field to display a list of times. There are a couple of points to note:
1. Time is recorded using a 24-hour clock, for example 3:15 pm in the afternoon is recorded as 15:15.
2. Hours are divided into quarters. Record the incident to the nearest 15 minutes.
Using Time accuracy:
•  Exact – you witnessed the incident occurring.
•  Estimated – you became aware that an incident occurred at a previous time.
•  As I was told – you were told about the incident happening at a particular time.

4.  Click in the Time accuracy field to select the accuracy of the time of the incident.

Select whether the time you provided is the exact or estimated time, or the time you first became aware of the incident.

5.  Enter the Date incident disclosed.

Enter the date you first became aware of the incident. This could be the date you were told about the incident or the date you found out about it.

6.  Enter the Time incident disclosed.

Enter the time you first became aware of the incident. This could be the time you were told about the incident or the time you found out about it.
Time incident disclosed is different from Time of incident because the incident may have occurred at a different date/time from when the reporting officer became aware of it. It’s possible for an incident to occur and the reporting officer to be made aware of it later.
If you witnessed the incident, the Date incident disclosed will be the same as the Date of incident, and the Time incident disclosed will be the same as the Time of incident. They will only differ if you did not witness the incident and became aware of it at a later date/time.
There is no time limit for reporting incidents. Regardless of how much time has passed since the incident occurred, a client incident report must be raised in accordance with the Client incident management guide (the policy).

7.  Click Next to continue creating your client incident report.