On Mable, when you submit your support hours, you’ll write support notes for your session and be asked if there were any incidents. If your client has a Home Care Package (HCP), you’ll be asked to provide additional health and wellbeing notes if you’ve observed a change or decline in their health and wellbeing.
Frequently Asked Questions
- To meet legislative and contractual requirements for support workers, which include:
- As part of your agreement with Mable, you agreed to provide notes, as soon as possible, that are accurate, current and complete (Terms of Use clauses 3.2(a) and 7.6(a))
- When you submit your support hours and notes you’ll be asked to report any incidents. There is legislation requiring some incidents to be reported to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission or Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission within 24 hours and processes and timeframes for other types of reportable incidents. Please refer to the Mable Incidents and Complaints Management Policy for more information.
- Home Care Package (HCP) provider organisations are required to monitor client health and wellbeing and proactively respond to any decline, in accordance with clauses 3(d) and 3(e) of the Aged Care Quality Standards. As a support worker, you see your client regularly and can notice and report changes in their health and wellbeing by adding health and wellbeing notes. This can help their family and/or provider organisation to respond to their changing support needs, which can enable them to live safely and independently at home for longer.
- If you’re booked by an approved provider organisation on behalf of their client, they may ask you to accept their terms and conditions which may include submitting accurate and timely support hours and notes.
- To help prevent payment issues and disputes.
- Your support hours may be rejected or your payment may be delayed if there is a significant delay between a support session and when support hours and notes were submitted, and/or support notes are of poor quality or don’t include activities that match the type of service you were booked to provide.
Support notes describe the support you provided, key activities and what was achieved during the session. They are a record of services provided in case of an incident or dispute and are useful for your client as a way to demonstrate their use of supports and progress towards goals if they have, or are applying for, government funding. Support notes are displayed on your support hours.
Health and wellbeing notes only appear in your support hours submission form if your client has a Home Care Package. These notes assist your client’s HCP provider to monitor client health and wellbeing in accordance with the Aged Care Quality Standards and provide assistance and support to meet their changing needs sooner, so they can live safely and independently at home for longer.
You’ll be prompted to select either ‘no health and wellbeing changes observed’ or 1 or more changes from a checklist and provide notes. You have the option not to share health and wellbeing notes with your client if they are the Mable client account holder eg, if they are self-managing their account.
The following people can read your support notes, so it’s important to make sure the notes are professional and objective.
- The person managing your client’s Mable account and approving your support hours – this may be your client or their representative.
- Your client’s plan manager, support coordinator and/or HCP provider, if applicable.
- Mable finance or customer support team, in the case of an issue.
- An insurance company claim assessor, in the case of a claim by you or your client.
- The Mable Trust and Safety Team if an incident has been reported, or a complaint has been made.
- In some circumstances, Mable may be legally obligated to disclose your support notes to a legal or regulatory body.
A turn on/off sharing feature provides you with the option not to share health and wellbeing notes with your client if they are the Mable client account holder.
When sharing is turned off, health and wellbeing notes are shared only with an HCP provider. When sharing is turned on, notes can be accessed by a client account holder and are visible on support hours. For coordinator-managed clients, only the HCP provider and coordinator have access to your health and wellbeing notes.
Describe the support you provided, key activities and what was achieved during the session. The activities should match the type of service you were booked to provide.
Support notes reflect your professionalism and are an opportunity to share the great work you’ve done, which can lead to additional work opportunities. Your client may refer to your notes to demonstrate their use of supports and progress towards goals if they have, or are applying for an NDIS plan or Home Care Package.
Your client may also ask you to take photos during your session to attach to their support notes to capture a fun moment, achievement or something that’s important to them.
Always ask for your client’s consent to share photos or videos of them.
Notes should be professional and objective. This means being respectful and accurate and not including opinions that aren’t based on facts.
Example support notes
Example 1 – cleaning.
I vacuumed and washed the floors and cleaned the kitchen and bathroom. We talked about my next visit and agreed that I’ll stay an extra hour to clean the oven.
Example 2 – light housework and social support.
I unpacked the dishwasher and folded the washing. I then drove Sonia to the supermarket in my car and we did a food shop and had coffee at our usual coffee shop. When we got home, I helped to put away the shopping.
Example 3 – gardening
I mowed Sam’s front and back lawn and the nature strip and put the cuttings in the green waste bin as part of my regular service. As agreed with Sam last time, I worked an extra 30 minutes to remove weeds from the front patio.
Example 3 – social support and capacity-building activities.
I met Chris at his home and helped him to use an app on his phone to look up train times. We walked to the station and caught a train into town and had ice cream and watched the ferries. Chris enjoys using the travel app and is becoming more confident in choosing the correct train platform and using his Opal card.
Health and wellbeing notes only appear in your support hours submission form if your client has a Home Care Package. These notes assist your client’s HCP provider to monitor client health and wellbeing in accordance with the Aged Care Quality Standards and provide assistance and support to meet their changing needs sooner, so they can live safely and independently at home for longer.
You’ll be prompted to select either ‘no health and wellbeing changes observed’ or 1 or more changes from a checklist and provide notes. You have the option not to share health and wellbeing notes with your client if they are the Mable client account holder.
Notes should be professional and objective. This means being respectful and accurate and not including opinions that aren’t based on facts.
Example health and wellbeing notes
Increased pain
Example – I noticed that Joan seemed uncomfortable when walking and complained about pain in her hip.
Mobility changes
Example – I noticed that Mike had trouble standing up from his chair and didn’t walk around the garden like he usually does.
Weight change
Example – While helping Marianne dress I noticed her clothing has become very loose and she appears to have lost weight.
Appetite change
Example – I noticed that the dinner I prepared for Fatima yesterday was still in the fridge today. I waited while she ate her dinner today, but she only ate half and said he wasn’t feeling hungry.
Decreased motivation
Example – We were meant to go out today but Ali declined. I’ve noticed that since his fall 3 months ago, he has lost confidence in walking without his walker but doesn’t like using it in the community.
Refusal of usual support program
Example – Today was the 3rd day Joan did not want to do the exercise program she had agreed on with her physiotherapist. I asked if it was because of any pain but she just said she did not want to.
Example – I noticed that the blister pack that Ali uses for his daily medication does not seem touched since our last session 4 days ago. When I asked if he was taking his medication he said that he was not but did not want to tell me why.
Positive improvement
Example – I encouraged Fatima to go on an outing. We visited the local garden centre and she enjoyed having a cooked lunch. The trip really lifted her mood.
You need to report possible neglect or abuse as an incident to Mable and/or the appropriate regulatory authority and/or emergency services and include observations in your support notes. For guidance and support, contact Mable’s Trust and Safety team on 1300 73 65 73 or trustandsafety@mable.com.au.
If you are in any doubt, report the incident or contact us at 1300 73 65 73 or trustandsafety@mable.com.au for assistance. If it doesn’t meet the definition of an incident in the Mable Incidents and Complaints Management Policy, the Trust and Safety Team will re-categorise it and provide advice on how best to proceed.
To better understand what is a reportable incident, refer to:
