Clinical risk management

Resources

Clinical incident monitoring and the management of incidents or adverse events in the public health sector is an important component of risk management.

The Office of Safety and Quality in Healthcare oversees a number of incident reporting programs that monitor and manage clinical incidents. Key clinical risk management tools include:

Incident and adverse event reporting, monitoring and trend analysis - this incorporates activities such as learning from local incidents or patterns of incidents, including near hits and management of serious adverse events, maintaining a risk register and monitoring medico-legal cases.
Sentinel event reporting, monitoring and clinical investigation - defines the process for identification, reporting and investigating sentinel events in line with Department of Health policy.
Risk profile analysis - includes the identification, investigation, analysis and evaluation of clinical risks and the selection of the most appropriate method of correcting, eliminating or reducing identifiable risks.

Why undertake risk management?

The Department of Health has a Statutory responsibility to protect the government and the general community from unnecessary costs and losses, including the human cost of adverse incidents, and as such risk management is a key responsibility for all managers and staff.

In complying with its Statutory responsibility and other public sector governance requirements, the Department of Health requires all Health Service Chief Executives and corporate and clinical staff to focus on material risks at all levels of their organisation and take necessary action to manage those risks.

Department of Health risk management

The Clinical Risk Management policy is consistent with the Department of Health’s:

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