You are here:
Index » Appendix IV: incident severity rating and reporting » South Australia

South Australia

In SA, public hospitals use the Safety Learning System (SLS) for incident reporting. The outcome severity of an incident is classified using a SAC. The SAC rating (level 1 to 4) is derived from a matrix matching severity with likelihood of recurrence.

The SAC rating guides the level of investigation and management that is undertaken for each incident. SAC1 incidents require review and investigation, and include sentinel events, while incidents with a lower SAC rating (3 and 4) may be aggregated into common incident types and reviewed utilising the clinical practice improvement methodology to achieve system improvement.

  • SAC1: Extreme risk
  • SAC2: High risk
  • SAC3: Medium risk
  • SAC4: Low risk

The mappings from the SAC scores or SAC consequences to the outcome severity categories defined in the ANHDD are not straightforward. Comparison of the definitions used for SAC and the ANHDD highlight a number of differences. For example, a SAC consequence of 'moderate' does not map to the ANHDD definition of minor or severe morbidity. Similarly, a SAC sentinel event (extreme consequence) does not always result in a life threatening outcome or death as defined by the ANHDD.

In addition to clinical and patient outcomes, the SAC consequence classification also takes into account staff, visitor, financial and environmental factors related to the incident being reported. The process of preparing SA haemovigilance data for national reporting requires a senior data analyst to review the details of each individual incident reported, and consequently apply the most appropriate ANHDD definition, irrespective of the SAC score entered into SLS.

Reporting requirements for SAC incidents

SAC1 incidents including sentinel events

  • All SAC1 incidents must be reported within 24 hours of knowledge of the event.
  • SAC1 incidents confirmed by a manager are escalated to the Chief Executive Officer of the Local Health Network.
  • Confirmed SAC1 incidents require a detailed and thorough investigation/review and a level 1 open disclosure response. RCA is conducted for the reported incidents.
  • The Safety and Quality/Clinical Governance Unit must confirm the SAC1/Sentinel Event status of the incident.

Other SAC incidents

  • RCA may be conducted for SAC2 incidents which fall into the definition of an adverse event. The outcome of the investigation should be entered into the SAC 1 investigation Panel of Safety Learning System.
  • Investigation or review of SAC3 and SAC4 events are managed at a local level.
Back to Top