Maximising quality
of life for the
people we
support
Working with Northcott’s programs and
services, our Quality and Risk team ensures
we deliver high quality, best practice
services above industry benchmarks.
Highlights
Our Safeguarding team support customers, staff and the organisation to implement best practice in the areas of child wellbeing and adult abuse and neglect. This year, we introduced a campaign, known as Speak Up About Abuse, to raise awareness and improve staff understanding, response to and prevention of any form of abuse, neglect, exploitation or violence towards our customers. The campaign encouraged staff to be brave and speak up if they see, hear or feel that something is not right concerning our customers.
Our Strategic Frameworks
Practice Framework - Quality Framework - Clinical Governance Framework
Across the year, our Quality team worked with frontline staff to develop three vitally important Strategic Frameworks to guide the way we support people with disability to achieve their goals. They are:
The Practice Framework: outlining eight practice foundations explaining the ‘how’ and ‘why’ we engage with customers in a particular way.
The Quality Framework: shapes our practices, policies and procedures so we meet regulatory requirement and prioritise customers safety and wellbeing.
The Clinical Governance Framework: supporting staff to deliver safe, effective and high-quality healthcare services.
Restrictive Practice Authorisation
602 restrictive practices for 173 customers were reviewed
104 service coordinators and service managers trained
Northcott is committed to delivering safe and quality customer experiences within a framework of person-centred positive behaviour support that actively minimises or eliminates the restriction of customers’ human rights and freedom of movement. We aim to use restrictive practices only as a last resort, and seek to employ the least restrictive option available, based on the risk posed by the behaviour. We regularly review customers’ restrictive practices and work closely with guardians, customers, support coordinators and behaviour support practitioners to validate the use of any recommended restrictive practices. This year 602 restrictive practices for 173 customers were reviewed.
We also maintained 100% compliance with all reporting requirements for restrictive practices used during our service delivery. To achieve this, our team conducted face-to-face training with 104 service coordinators and service managers across NSW, to ensure they understand mandatory authorisation requirements.
Supporting complex customers
Between the Flags tool
introduced
Our 11 SSL sites trained
To better support customers living in our Specialist Supported Living (SSL) accommodation services who have complex healthcare needs, we introduced the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission’s Between The Flags tool. This ‘safety net’ system supports our nurses to recognise – early-on – deterioration of our customers through symptoms and vital signs, and to respond with appropriate escalation and care. Teams at all 11 of our SSL sites have been trained in the system.
Healthcare and Clinical Governance
In 2022, specialist nursing support was provided to 223 customers in response to emerging health issues
Through capacity building, the Healthcare and Clinical Governance team supported staff and customers to manage clinical risks and emerging health issues. The team provided:
- expert health consultation and coordination
- plan development
- plan implementation training
- hospital discharge planning.
Customer Risk Profile
High intensity support presents some of the highest risks for customers. Many of these supports are extremely personal in nature and require workers to work closely with customers to understand when and how to deliver supports safely, in ways that meet the customers’ goals, preferences and daily routines.
The Customer Risk Profile has been redesigned to ensure it aligns with the changes outlined in the NDIS Practice Standards for High Intensity Support. The new tool also aligns with Northcott’s business process and systems at various points in the customer journey (sales enquiry, service delivery and re-sign up). This is a critical business tool to ensure customer risk is appropriately managed.
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