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Industry Feedback Alert - Smoking in Facilities

From the Office of Aged Care Quality and Compliance (Aged Care Complaints Scheme)

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PDF printable version of the Industry Feedback Alert - Smoking in Facilities (PDF 26 KB)

Industry Feedback Alert

Smoking in Facilities

Who is this alert for?

All Australian Government subsidised aged care providers.

What is an Industry education alert?

Industry education alerts outline an issue, trend or risk we have identified through an analysis of our complaints data or another source of information, and provide suggestions of areas that aged care providers may wish to review within their service. Alerts are not advice or directions.

Issue

In October 2008, a resident of an aged care facility died as a result of severe burns after their clothing accidentally caught alight while smoking in a designated outdoor smoking area of the aged care home.

The Scheme distributed the preliminary findings of the South Australian Coroner’s Court’ inquest into the death of this aged care resident to the aged care industry on 4 June 2010. Earlier this year, the South Australian Coroner’s Court released the finalised findings.

Observations

The Deputy Coroner’s findings highlight the importance of the following actions in relation to residents who smoke on premises:

• Communication with the resident’s family and/or representative about their smoking habits, manual dexterity and the level of supervision they may need Individual assessment of each resident who smokes on premises
• Proper documentation of concerns raised by family and/or the representative
• Facility carers to attend shift handovers and other briefings to familiarise themselves with adverse issues
• Mandatory practice of carers to acknowledge in writing they have read changes to care plans of residents.

Suggestions for your consideration

While the Deputy Coroner’s findings are recommendations and not legislated requirements, we ask that you:

• read the full report: http://www.courts.sa.gov.au/courts/coroner/findings/findings_2011/Heath_Dawn_Patricia.pdf
• make your key personnel aware of the information in the report and this alert
• consider taking action if appropriate.

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Aged Care Complaints Branch
Office of Aged Care Quality and Compliance
Email: agedcomplaintscomms@health.gov.au
Website: http://agedcarecomplaints.govspace.gov.au
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