NDIS PARTICIPANT/FAMILY HANDBOOK
At Connect Allied Health Hub, we respect to the Participant’s/Client’s legal and human rights and ensure that they have been understood and incorporated into everyday practice. In this regard, the Participant Handbook/Family Handbook has been developed that includes the following policies:
Feedback and Complaints Policy.
Privacy & Confidentiality Policy.
Participant/Client Consent Policy.
Culture, Diversity, Values and Beliefs Policy.
Violence, Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation & Discrimination Policy.
Decision-making Policy
Right to access an advocate Policy
Conflict of Interest Policy
Feedback, Complaints and Disputes
If the Participant/Client wishes to give the provider feedback or a complaint, the participant can arrange to speak to Cherish Sullivan, Practice Manager ofConnect Allied Health Hubon 07 4661 5577 or cherish.sullivan@cahh.com.au
If you have a concern or complaint about the quality or safety of services provided, you can also make a complaint to theNDIS Commission.
For more information on how to make a complaint;
NDIS Code of Conduct
Complaint Contact Form
Make a complaint to the NDIS Commission
Make a complaint to the NDIS Commission
Understanding the complaints process
Privacy and Confidentiality
Healthia Allied Pty Ltd T/A Connect Allied Health Huband its related entities (“we”, “us” and “our”) is subject to the National Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 as amended from time to time and all staff atConnect Allied Health Hubhave legal and ethical obligation to protect the privacy of the families that access our services. All practitionersemployed atConnect Allied Health Hubare also registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency (AHPRA) or their relevant governing bodies,whoprovides clear guidelines for therapist’s code of conduct.
Connect Allied Health Hub
We will be courteous, respectful, compassionate and honest at all times.
We will treat all our clients as an individual, encouraging and support you and your family.
We will listen to your views and respond to concerns appropriately ensuring you and your family are always well-informed about your child’s therapy by providing information and advice to the best of the staff members ability.
We will always be considerate, respectful and sensitive to the language, cultural and communication needs of the families we work with.
We always recognize the role of parents or guardians and when appropriate, encourage the child or young person to be involved in decision about their therapy.
We will only gather information that is essential or beneficial in ensuring quality of service.
We will take reasonable steps to protect any personal information that comes into our possession from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
We will ensure that all information collected is stored securely in our cloud-based practice management software, Pracsuite. We take reasonable steps to protect the security of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Statement. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be totally secure but we will strive to protect your information.
We will protect the privacy and right to confidentiality of patients or clients, unless release of information is required by law or by public interest considerations.
PLEASE NOTE:
Where a child or young person’s rights are required to be restricted (e.g. disability orbehavioural reasons) the least restrictive alternative will be applied only when necessary and for as little of time as possible. This decision will be assisted through parental support in session and only if deemed required to assist an incident where a child or young person might be at risk of harm to self or others.
Participant/Client Consent Policy
Our practice will work closely with other agencies to coordinate the best support for you. This means your informed consent for the sharing of information will be sought and respected in all situations unless:
we are obliged by law to disclose your information regardless of consent or otherwise;
it is unreasonable or impracticable to gain consent or consent has been refused; and
the disclosure is reasonably necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to the life, health or safety of a person or group of people.
Consent for your NDIS information
The consent for your NDIS information form is used to share your NDIS information with a person or an organisation you choose.
Examples include:
You give consent for the NDIA to discuss your plan with a family member and explain how you can use your funding.
You are a patient in a public hospital, and the treating staff request details of your NDIS plan. This information may assist them with your treatment and to arrange suitable discharge arrangements.
You have requested some assistive technology to help you do some daily tasks. The NDIS has asked for some further information and if you give consent, the NDIS can talk to your therapist about what additional evidence we need and why.
You can also use this form when you want to give your consent to another person or an organisation to do things for you with the NDIS. You can specify who can do this, for what purpose and for a set period of time.
The kinds of activities or processes that you can give consent to a third party to do on your behalf could be for requesting:
Other examples include:
you consent for an advocate to submit a request to review a decision made by the NDIA
you consent for a family member to assist with making requests for assistive technology, home modifications, or other specific supports.
If you do not want someone to act on your behalf, do not fill in this form.
You can take away your consent at any time. You can let us know by mail, email, in person or over the phone that you no longer consent to us sharing information on your behalf.
Culture, Diversity, Values and Beliefs Policy.
Provision of appropriate patient and customer care.
Connect Allied Health Hub is committed to providing excellence in care for all people by ensuring:
All patients and/or customers have access to culturally appropriate and inclusive, compassionate healthcare and retail services.
All staff are committed to fostering patient/customer-centred care through shared decision making and effective communication.
Staff are committed to continually developing their understanding of culturally appropriate and inclusive care through annual training provided by Connect Allied Health Hub and other opportunities that arise.
Connect Allied Health Hub is committed to cultivating an inclusive organisation.
Discrimination, harassment, vilification and victimisation will not be tolerated. Any substantiated breach will be dealt with seriously and may result in disciplinary action. We are committed to taking appropriate action where a complaint is raised, and an investigation may follow in line with our complaint handling procedures.
Violence, Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation & Discrimination Policy
Prevention of abuse, harm, neglect, harassment, violence or exploitation
Connect Allied Health Hub has a “zero tolerance” approach to, and will prevent, abuse, harm, neglect, harassment, violence and exploitation and the following shall always apply:
It is the duty of all staff to report all suspected incidents of abuse or neglect immediately regardless of where the reported abuse or neglect occurred. This may include at an individual's home or in the community.
Any allegations of abuse, harm, neglect, harassment, violence or exploitation and/or denial of a patient’s/customer’s civil rights will be investigated either through internal processes or external agencies.
Staff are provided with this policy and procedure during their induction to Connect Allied Health Hub to ensure that all staff are fully aware of their responsibilities and are compliant at all times.
All information provided to patients/customers promotes an awareness of abuse, neglect and exploitation and clearly indicates available avenues of support.
Any concerned person, including but not limited to, the person receiving care, another patient or customer, staff member, relative, friend or person from the community is able to make a report or an allegation of abuse, neglect and exploitation, without fear of retaliation or retribution.
A guardian or substitute decision maker will be informed of all alleged or suspected instances of abuse, harm, neglect, harassment, violence or exploitation except in instances where Connect Allied Health Hub Management believe that this would place the person receiving care at greater risk
Reporting and investigating allegations, concerns and complaints Connect Allied Health Hub takes all allegations seriously and has practices in place to investigate thoroughly and quickly. All staff are trained to not only identify, reduce and remove risks of abuse or neglect, but to deal appropriately with all allegations. Complaints of abuse or neglect made by service users or by any person on behalf of a service user shall be reported, documented and dealt with in accordance with Complaints Management Policy and Incident Management Policy. The timeframe associated with reporting complaints of abuse or neglect to the relevant body of authority (e.g., State Police, DHHS, DSCI) is within 24 hours, as per Incident Management Policy. If a staff member has reasonable belief that an incident has occurred, then they must report the incident. Factors contributing to reasonable belief may be:
An individual states they or someone they know has been abused (noting that sometimes the in the case of children, they may in fact be referring to themselves)
Behaviour consistent with that of an abuse victim is observed
Someone else has raised a suspicion of abuse but is unwilling to report it
Observing suspicious behaviour.
Connect Allied Health Hub takes all legal responsibilities seriously, including:
Failure to disclose: Reporting child sexual abuse is a community-wide responsibility. All adults who have a reasonable belief that an adult has committed a sexual offence against a child under 16 have an obligation to report that information to the police.
Failure to protect: People of authority at Connect Allied Health Hub will commit an offence if they know of a substantial risk of child sexual abuse and have the power or responsibility to reduce or remove the risk, but negligently fail to do so.
Any personnel who are mandatory reporters must comply with their duties.
Responding to allegations of physical or sexual assault
In addition to notifying all governing/funding bodies of authority, Connect Allied Health Hub is committed to reporting all allegations of physical or sexual assault to the Police. Under the Privacy Act and the Health Records Act, Connect Allied Health Hub can disclose information relating to criminal offences to the Police regardless of whether or not the alleged victim has provided consent to the matter being reported. All cases of assault will be reported within the stipulated timeframes. The only exceptions to this being:
Minor incidents such as shoving between patients and customers.
Inappropriate touching by a disability patient/customer who lacks understanding of the behaviour
Exposure in a public place by a disability patient/customer in some contexts. In the case of the three items listed above, an incident report will be documented, and a behavioural management intervention implemented and monitored.
Responding to allegations of abuse, harm, neglect, harassment, violence or exploitation
Connect Allied Health Hub takes has practices and systems in place to investigate thoroughly and quickly all allegations. All staff are aware of their duty of care to report allegations of abuse, harm, neglect, harassment, violence or exploitation in accordance with legal, government department and moral obligations.
The Manager of the relevant business unit will act to resolve allegations, concerns and complaints as soon as is practical following notification by any staff or from a service user. The Manager of the relevant business unit will advise the staff member and their supervisor of strategies to implement in order to end any abuse or neglect immediately that it has been identified. In addition, they will implement measures to ensure that the abuse or neglect does not occur in the future. In the case of people with a disability, we ensure our response is in accordance with the requirements of the National Disability Services Standard 1 (Rights).
Privacy and Confidentiality
All information and access to records is restricted to those who are directly involved in reporting and responding to the incident or allegation to ensure that a person’s right to privacy is upheld. A designated person will be appointed to be the sole contact for the person, family, guardian or other support person, when providing information about the incident or allegation and subsequent investigations.
Worker Screening
To assist in the prevention of potential abuse and neglect to service users, as per the Worker Screening Policy, Connect Allied Health Hub will enforce safety screenings mechanisms. These screening measures apply to both potential and current employees.
Supported decision making policy
Please visit the NDIS link
Right to access an advocate Policy
An independent disability advocate can help you make sure your voice is heard if you make a complaint.
They can speak, act or write on behalf of a person with disability. They areindependent of the NDIA, NDIS Commission and all NDIS providers.
Registered NDIS providers must cooperate with advocates and other representatives of people with disability who are affected by complaints or incidents. See theNational Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013for details.
Find an advocate
Go to theDisability Advocacy Finder
This policy aligns with legislative requirements as stated within the NDIS Act 2013.
The Act acknowledges the important role of advocates (including independent advocates) and other representatives of persons with disability; and requires registered NDIS providers to cooperate with, and facilitate arrangements for, advocates (including independent advocates) and other representatives of persons with disability who are affected by complaints or incidents and who wish to be independently supported in that process by an advocate or other representative.
This policy also incorporates obligations regarding provision of advocacy support when delivering service as outlined within NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission within the following:
· Standards - NDIS Commission Quality and Safeguards Commission Practice Standards Core Module
· Rules and Guidelines - NDIS Incident Management and Reportable Incident Rules 2018 and NDIS Complaints Management and Resolution Rules 2018
Connect Allied Health Hub acknowledges the right of our clients to change their nominated advocate and their right to request an advocate of their choice at any time.
This may be inclusive of a family member, friend or representative of an advocacy service.
Connect Allied Health Hub is required to ensure that clients are aware of their rights to use an advocate in relation to the service, including having their advocate present for all assessments, meetings and communication between themselves and the organisation. If the client is unsure whether they may want to nominate a person as an advocate, they are to be provided with information (in an appropriate format) on various specialist advocacy organisations that may be able to assist them. If they would like to contact any of these organisations staff must liaise with their Manager to organise assistance to make contact. If a client has an advocate, the name and contact details of the advocate are to be included in the client's personal record Staff will not disclose any information about the client to an advocate, when the client is not present, unless the client has provided their permission to do so. 3 Working with advocates (when a client has nominated an advocate)
Where a client has identified or nominated an advocate Connect Allied Health Hub must:
· Record the advocates details in the client's personal record
· Ensure the client is aware of their advocacy rights including the right to have an advocate present for all assessments, meetings and communication between themselves and the organisation
· Ensure the advocate knows they have been nominated as an advocate and agrees to this
· Ensure any identified advocate is present at assessments and meetings
· Communicate and work co-operatively with the advocate
· Communicate comprehensively with a client's advocate and involve them in the support and service planning
Conflict of Interest Policy
A conflict of interest arises when an organisation or person’s interests compromise, influence or affect the way they provide services. A conflict of interest can be real or perceived.
• Conflicts may be financial, business, or personal in nature. They may be financial and/or corporate interests. • Conflicts can arise due to a relationship between the NDIS provider and other businesses or organisations, or due to cultural, religious, or social relationships.
• Participants need accurate information about their services and service providers, including any real or perceived conflicts of interest, so they are free to make decisions in their own best interest, without influence, incentive (benefit or reward) or pressure.
• In the NDIS context, conflicts of interest can arise when a worker or a NDIS provider is able to exploit their own professional or official capacity for personal or corporate benefit.
What is expected of NDIS providers?
The NDIS Code of Conduct Guidance for Service Providers applies to all providers, registered and unregistered. It places certain responsibilities on NDIS providers and workers, to ensure they act and maintain integrity in the way they conduct their business and work with NDIS participants and to declare and avoid any real or perceived conflicts of interest.
Inform people with disability
By providing accurate information about their services and any conflicts of interest of the people who work for them.
Disclose conflicts of interest
This includes personal, financial or business conflicts or relationships that exist, that may impact or influence the delivery of supports and services to that person.
Not give, ask for, or accept any incentive or gift
This includes any referral arrangements with other providers, which could impact on the way services are provided.
Use robust recruitment processes
To uncover and manage any real or perceived conflicts of interest of potential employees. This could include reference checks, other pre-employment checks or asking people to declare any conflicts of interests.
Inform and support workers
To ensure workers at all levels, know they must declare conflicts of interest that may impact on the supports and services they deliver.
Develop internal policies and guidance
Which cover what workers should do in response to declaring, avoiding and managing conflicts of interest and accepting and giving gifts. Include templates that can be used quickly in an emergency or crisis.
Ensure workers understand policies and guidance
Including their responsibilities for informing the organisation and people with disability of any conflicts, and their expected behaviour in giving, asking for, or accepting incentives or gifts, from people with disability, their families, carers, or advocates.
Documenting and monitoring information about potential and actual conflicts
This includes corporate conflicts for the organisation, for example monitoring informal and formal relationships the organisation holds with other providers and businesses and the activities that the organisation participates in. Assessing the nature of these relationships over time to ensure any sharp practices or conflicts are not developing.
References
• National Disability Insurance Service (2021) Provider legal requirements Accessed at
https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/becoming-ndis-provider/am-i-ready/requirements-and-eligibility/your-legal-requirements
• NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission Code of Conduct accessed at
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/rules-and-standards/ndis-code-conduct
