Interruption to Service Provision Policy & Procedure
Purpose
This policy outlines the procedures in place to manage temporary or permanent interruptions to psychological services, ensuring continuity of care, client safety, ethical practice, and compliance with privacy and professional obligations.
Scope
This policy applies to all current clients of Renee Louise Psychology and covers interruptions due to foreseeable or unforeseeable circumstances, including illness, incapacity, emergencies, or other events that prevent Renee from continuing to provide services.
Policy Statement
Renee Louise Psychology is committed to minimising disruption to client care. This policy outlines the approach to managing planned and unplanned interruptions to psychological services to ensure client safety and minimise disruption to care in line with the National Code of Conduct for Health Care Workers and the Code of Conduct for Psychologists by taking reasonable steps to support continuity of care and timely communication.
Definitions
Interruption to Service: Any event that prevents Renee from providing therapy for a period of time.
Incapacitation: A situation where Renee is unable to communicate, make clinical decisions, or continue service provision due to serious illness, injury, or other critical circumstances.
Referring medical doctor: The medical doctor who referred the client for psychological services.
Planned Interruptions
A planned interruption is a pre-arranged and temporary suspension of psychological services, where clients are provided with reasonable notice and appropriate information to support continuity of care and client safety. Examples of this may include:
Scheduled leave.
Planned surgery or medical treatment.
Pre-advised temporary reduction in availability.
Notification
Renee will provide reasonable notice to clients who would be impacted by planned interruptions. This notification may be in writing, or verbally during sessions.
Service Arrangements
For any clients impacted by the planned interruption Renee will:
Provide clients with the option to elect to gain ongoing care, including temporary referral to other providers (where relevant).
Provide referral details to relevant emergency and community services.
Advise the referring medical doctor of the interruption and referral arrangements, where implemented.
Document the agreed plan in the client’s file.
Unplanned Interruptions (not involving incapacitation)
An unplanned interruption not involving incapacitation is an unforeseen and temporary suspension of psychological services where advance notice is not possible, but the practitioner remains able to take reasonable steps to communicate with clients and support client safety and continuity of care. Examples of this may include:
Sudden illness or injury.
Medical emergency.
Natural disasters or other critical events.
Notification
Renee will provide notification to impacted clients as soon as practicable. This communication will occur through email or text message.
Service Arrangements
For any clients impacted by the interruption:
Where it is deemed appropriate, impacted clients will be offered:
Referral to other providers, or
The option to pause therapy until services resume.
Referring medical doctors may be notified if clinically indicated.
All actions will be documented in the impacted client’s file.
Unplanned Interruptions (involving incapacitation)
An unplanned interruption involving incapacitation is an unexpected suspension of psychological services due to Renee being unable to manage clinical responsibilities, provide services or communicate as a result of illness, injury, or other serious circumstances, requiring alternative arrangements to be implemented as soon as practicable to support client safety and continuity of care. This may include:
Sudden illness or injury.
Medical emergency.
Authorised Access to Client Information
Sarah Moore (Sarah Moore Psychology) is authorised to access client information for the purposes of communicating the unplanned interruption with impacted clients, providing interim or ongoing care where available and appropriate, and/or facilitating discharge of the client to the referring medical doctor if ongoing care by Renee is not available within a reasonable timeframe.
Client Discharge Procedure (where relevant)
Where Renee’s incapacity is expected to prevent the timely resumption of services, or where safe and appropriate continuity of care cannot be reasonably maintained, clients may be required to be formally discharged, with reasonable steps taken to inform clients, support referral to alternative services, and minimise potential risk to client wellbeing.
Upon accessing client information, Sarah Moore will:
Identify active clients.
Notify clients (where relevant) that Renee is unable to continue services.
Discharge clients back to the care of their referring medical doctor.
Notify the referring medical doctor of:
The interruption to service, and
The discharge of the client back to their care.
Provide general information about accessing alternative services where appropriate.
6. If a client does not have a current referring medical doctor they will be provided with general information on accessing alternative services or emergency support.
Privacy & Confidentiality
Sarah Moore’s access is time-limited and purpose-specific.
No client information will be retained beyond what is required to respond appropriately to the unplanned interruption.
All actions will comply with privacy legislation and professional ethical standards.
Documentation
The following will be documented where relevant:
The nature, reason, and duration of the interruption, including whether incapacitation is involved.
Dates of service suspension and resumption, or client discharge.
Notifications made to clients and, where appropriate, referrers.
Actions taken to support client safety and continuity of care, including referrals or interim arrangements.
Any discharge decisions and the rationale for discharge.
Details of any access to client information during the interruption, including who accessed records, the purpose of access, and confirmation that access was limited to what was necessary and consistent with privacy and confidentiality obligation.
Limitations of Responsibility
This policy does not guarantee uninterrupted service. It outlines reasonable steps taken to support continuity of care and safe discharge in the event of service disruption.