Duty of Care, Dilemmas and Public Concerns in Adult Health and Social Care

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1 Workbook 1 Duty of Care, Dilemmas and Public Concerns in Adult Health and Social Care Information and support Dilemmas Person-centred Safeguarding Duty of care Promoting dignity Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Dignity and Safeguarding in Adult Health and Social Care

2 Promoting a positive culture Please read the following as it will help you to answer question 9. Creating a positive culture within health environments is a crucial factor in being able to provide a high standard of care and in promoting a good quality of life for service users. Promoting a positive culture within the health or social care environment requires care workers to adopt a care value base. The care values that are important in creating a caring positive environment are shown below. Recognition of the right for individuals to take risks Antidiscriminatory practice The promotion of safety and security Equality The recognition of individuality and identity Maintaining confidentiality Care values Respect for diversity The right to dignity Respect for different cultures and beliefs Empowerment, choice and independence Partnership working The right to privacy Effective communication There are two key elements to creating a positive culture. The first is the responsibility of health workers to challenge poor practice and discriminatory beliefs, and the second is to understand the role of the organisation. Workbook 1 13

3 Knowledge Activity 5: Think about all of the things that health and social workers can do to create a positive culture within a care environment. Make a note of your thoughts below. How your own actions can impact on individuals and others Please read the following as it will help you to answer question 10. Have you ever thought about the impact your actions can have on the people you support? People who require the support of health or social care services are more likely to be vulnerable because of several factors. For example, they may be elderly, in poor health, they may be using a service for the first time or they may have difficulty communicating. As a consequence, some of these people may feel unsure of themselves and may not feel in control of their lives. These people may be dependent on the support of health workers and as such it is important that these people are treated with dignity and respect. The relationships that exist between colleagues, individuals receiving health or social care, their families and friends and other health professionals can have a huge impact on the quality of care and support that is delivered. Relationships are built on the ways in which we interact with one another and those around us. Clear, consistent and respectful interactions can assist in promoting well-being by considering the perspective of the individual requiring support, because this shows that consideration has been given to their individual needs and that thought has been put into what is important to the person. Approaches that are person-centred will not only benefit the person receiving support; this way of working also provides significant benefits for the individual s family and friends and also for other members of the multidisciplinary team. Person-centred care also focuses on treating people with dignity and respect. The single most important benefit of using a person-centred approach for the individual is that they are respected as an individual with individual wants, needs and wishes. Using approaches that are person-centred can also serve to empower service users. Empowerment is a 14 LCG 2014

4 process by which people gain control of their lives. This enables people to recognise, assert and exercise power over their own lives. Enabling people to be empowered means maximising independence and confidence. It also means that services and those who work in them need to relinquish some of the power and control they have traditionally used when working with service users and to develop ways of working in partnership with service users. Sometimes health or social care workers may act, do or say things that could actually make life more difficult for the people in their care. They may be unaware of doing this at the time. It is important to be aware that if we fail to adopt a person-centred approach to care, this can only serve to disempower people. To disempower people means to take away a person s power to control their own life. It limits or restricts their ability to make their own decisions and take considered risks and does not recognise their rights. People who are disempowered have little or no control over their lives and become increasingly dependent on others. They may have their basic needs met which merely maintains them at a certain level and does not enable them to exercise choice, develop or recognise the independence or skills they may have. Consequently people lose their skills or lose their confidence and become increasingly more and more dependent. People experience a feeling of powerlessness and lack of control if others do things for them instead of with them, or make decisions for them that they are perfectly capable of making themselves. The importance of sharing concerns with a responsible professional Please read the following as it will help you to answer question 11. The Code of Conduct for healthcare support workers and adult social care workers in England states that all healthcare support workers and adult social care workers must report any actions or omissions that they feel may compromise the safety of care of people who use health and care services and, if necessary use whistleblowing procedures to report any suspected wrongdoing. As a health or social care worker, you have a professional duty to put the interests of the people in your care first and to act to protect them if you consider they may be at risk. It is not always easy to report concerns. You may not know how to, or you may worry that you are being disloyal, or fear reprisals from your employer s reaction. It may also be particularly difficult for health workers who live in remote and small communities. However, the health and well-being of the people in your care must always be your main concern. Raising your concern early can prevent minor issues from becoming serious ones, therefore protecting the public from harm and improving standards of care. Workbook 1 15

5 If you witness or suspect there is a risk to the safety of people in your care, you should report your concerns straightaway to the appropriate person or authority. Where possible, you should follow your employer s policy on raising concerns or whistleblowing. This should provide advice on how to raise your concern and give details of a designated person who has responsibility for dealing with concerns in your organisation. It is important that concerns are shared with a responsible person in order to prevent minor issues becoming more serious, protect the public from harm, and improve standards of care. Possible consequences of health workers failing to act in the interests of individuals and others Please read the following as it will help you to answer question 12. The Code of Conduct for healthcare support workers and adult social care workers in England states that all healthcare support workers or adult social care workers in England must always act in the best interests of people who use health and care services. A duty of care requires health workers to act in the best interest of individuals and others. A failure to act in the best interests of individuals and others could result in a person being placed at serious risk of harm. Consent Please read the following as it will help you to answer question 13. In simple terms, consent can be defined as the permission given by a person for something to happen or an agreement to do something. As a broad principle, consent should be obtained before carrying out any sort of activity relating to people who require support. Even something as simple as supporting a person to eat a meal should always be preceded by the question Would you like me to help you to eat your lunch? An overall agreement to the provision of care cannot be taken as consent to all activities. A person requiring support may not want planned care on a particular day. Consent must therefore always be sought prior to any intervention. It is vital that consent is always obtained. Not only to protect care providers, but also to protect the rights of the person. It is also important in recognising that people should be able to decide what happens to them. 16 LCG 2014

6 Public concern Impact on individuals Disclaimer Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained within this learning material is accurate and reflects current best practice. All information provided should be used as guidance only, and adapted to reflect local practices and individual working environment protocols. All legislation is correct at the time of printing, but is liable to change (please ensure when referencing legislation that you are working from the most recent edition/amendment). Neither Learning Curve Group (LCG); nor their authors, publishers or distributors accept any responsibility for any loss, damage or injury (whether direct, indirect, incidental or consequential) howsoever arising in connection with the use of the information in this learning material. Copyright 2014 All rights reserved. All material contained within this manual, including (without limitation): text; logos; icons; and all other artwork is copyright material of Learning Curve Group (LCG), unless otherwise stated. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior permission of the copyright owners. If you have any queries, feedback or need further information please contact: Learning Curve Group Fountain House, 4 South Parade, Leeds LS1 5QX info@learningcurvegroup.co.uk LCG DIC July 2014 Version 1