Analysis of the Client Death Notification (CDN) Database: Report to NSW Family & Community Services

The current Client Death Notification (CDN database offers a rich source of data analysis about the circumstances at death for 599 clients in NSW accommodation services for the five-year period 2012 to 2016. This report has detailed these circumstances. The analysis has also brought to light a number of issues. Problems with policy compliance pertaining to police notification, health policy, and palliative care plans were identified, each of which can be addressed by training and ongoing monitoring of due diligence in CDN processes. Moving forward, the development of an online data collection system would improve data fidelity. Database design to allow year-on-year comparison, as well as with like data from other data sets, would significantly improve the quality and depth of data reporting. Finally, with NSW FACS ADHC withdrawal from operational accommodation services under the NDIS, we propose that this is an opportune time to consider the development of a national reporting system. The CDN database is an important data set, offering critical information about where people with intellectual disability in accommodation services die, and the relationships between associated variables.