Principles of Health and Social Care Practice - Essay Example

Proper application of principles of care and support ensure individuals are well cared for in health and social care practice. Respect is of significance in applying these principles. Staff members have to show respect to people they serve as well as those who accompany them. There is a need to respect the individuality of clients. Individuality is what defines who a person is and includes a combination of “successes and failures, happiness and sadness” (Care in the Vale 2013, p. 1). By respecting the individuality of patients, healthcare workers in essence recognize ‘the whole person’ and the services they give therefore can be customized to fit the patient needs. In this manner, healthcare services cease to be mere tasks performed and instead take the comprehensive meaning of healthcare services (Care in the Vale 2013). There is also a need to respect the choice of clients. Sometimes making choices can be quite hard especially when the choices are limited. Healthcare workers should ensure that when clients need to make choices over matters that affect them, the choices available to them are enough not to cause agony on what course of action the clients will take. For instance, healthcare settings should be structured in a manner that can allow clients with restricted mobility access to areas that they need to. Furthermore, respecting the confidentiality of clients is very significant as clients trust healthcare workers to do that. Breaching this trust will catastrophically affect the healthcare worker-patient relationship (Care in the Vale 2013). Finally, the healthcare workers need to the quite flexible. Flexibility is very important because it will enable them to adapt to and respect different client needs which might be quite dynamic. Flexibility is especially significant in upholding respect for diversity, and different cultures and values (Care in the Vale 2013). Protecting others from harm The procedure for protecting clients, patients and colleagues from harm really has nothing to do more than observing the code of conduct to the letter. According to National Health Service (2013), healthcare workers must work to standard. To avoid endangering others, the following should be strictly followed by healthcare workers. One: Healthcare workers should work within their job descriptions. Doing anything beyond one’s job description is wrong and punishable. Instructions to work on tasks which are beyond one’s job descriptions should be turned down and the manager or supervisor informed immediately (National Health Service 2013). Two: When delegating tasks, one has to ensure that whoever is given the tasks has the skills and ability to safely execute the tasks. Failure to do that makes the delegator professionally liable for the manner in which those tasks are completed. The healthcare worker who takes up those tasks is equally professionally liable (National Health Service 2013). Three: Whenever carrying out tasks and duties, the standard procedures established must be followed to the letter (National Health Service 2013). Four: Depending on the relevant policies in the healthcare setting one is in, consent has to be obtained before anything is done to a patient (National Health Service 2013). Five: Rules on ‘duty to care’ must always be followed – clients and colleagues should not be harmed because of something that has been done or not done or carelessness or taking risks (National Health Service 2013). Six: Keeping updated patient records is very important. The official procedure of updating patient records should be followed (National Health Service 2013). Seven: The attention of line managers should be called for where there are conflicting issues touching on “how care is delivered, the personal health, safety and security of patients, or harm and abuse of patients” (National Health Service 2013). Benefit of Person-centred approach Following the person-centred approach has the general benefit of making delivery of healthcare services effective. This is achieved because of the principles which are applied in this approach. This approach advocates for healthcare workers “getting to know the patient as a person - a holistic approach as well as individual approach” (National Ageing Research Institute 2006, p. 7). This will make it possible to offer the best alternative of care option as a healthcare worker understands the client better. The approach also encourages sharing of power and responsibility. Giving a client all the relevant information concerning his/her treatment brings more satisfaction and happiness to the client because the client can make choices based on the information that he/she receives. Through the person-centred approach, the patient is able to easily approach the service provider. Because of this, the client opens up easily to the provider and important information which might have a significant bearing on the treatment can be revealed (Victorian Government 2008). This approach encourages the service provider and the client to work as team. In this manner, the provider is able to meet the client needs effectively while respecting their individuality. This approach makes it possible for a provider to be more specific in addressing the needs of a client. The patient also feels more responsible and thus he/she is likely to take measures to “engage in treatment decisions, feel supported to make behavioural changes and empowered to self manage” (Victorian Government 2008, p. 2). Ethical dilemmas A number of ethical dilemmas and conflict may arise when providing care (Labspace 2013). There are explained below: Practitioner –client relationship: Sometimes a client may accuse a healthcare provider of wrong doing when the client is actually aware or even may not be aware that he/she is the who is on the wrong. This may happen, for instance, if the client fails to take his/her medication as instructed and at the end the treatment fails. Privacy and confidentiality: In setting where healthcare providers are very close to the community, for instance in a rural setting, confidentiality and privacy may become an issue. This may happen when a health provider feels the need to reveal private information to a third person who may be hurt if he/she does not become aware of the same. Shared decision making: Sometimes clients decide to make decisions which are outright wrong. Healthcare providers are always reminded to respect client decisions. Healthcare workers are left with few options when clients stick to decisions which are wrong and which are likely to affect more than the patient, for instance, a critically ill parent insisting on using native medicine which has proved ineffective. Part B: Policy, Legislation, Regulation, Codes of practice and standards The questions in this part are discussed in the light of Quality Protects Program, The Care Standard Act 2000, and Codes of Practice for Employers of Social Care Workers. Implementation of policies, legislation, regulations and codes of practice Implementation of Quality Protects: Implementation of this program is carried out at the local authorities’ level. The national government has set the priority areas and the objectives to be achieved. It is the duty of local authorities to come up with strategies on how those objectives are achieved. The implementation strategies by each local authority are developed in a Management Action Plan which is then submitted to the Department of Health for approval (Management Action Plan 2001). Implementation of the Care Standard Act 2000: The implementation of this Act is carried out by service providers. The national government just issues the minimum standards which the providers need to adhere to and the providers are expected to implement those standards. These providers include care homes for adults and children, nurses’ agencies, domiciliary care agencies among others (Welsh Government 2011). Implementation of Codes of Practice for Employers: These codes are implemented by employers of social care workers. They can accomplish this by providing training to employees, set out procedures to deal with conflicts, employ only qualified personnel, and remind employees of codes of conduct through notices or otherwise (General Social Care Council 2010). Local policies and procedures versus national and policy requirements Local policies should seek to have a deep understanding of the objectives on national and policy requirements. It will also be prudent to understand the cause for the establishment or updating of the policies in questions. Having a good understanding of the policies and the issues that such policies are meant to address will make it possible to come up with specific strategies that will address the national and policy requirements without necessarily conflicting with them. National and policy requirements usually are broken down into details which show what is expected to be achieved – this can be in form of priority areas and objectives as is the case for Quality Protects program. Such details may contain actions points, for instance as is the case for Quality Protects program, which can be used as starting points for developing local policies. Each action point should be turned into a question and solutions be sought to that question. In some cases, the details are enough such that what the local authority needs to adopt the national policy as it is – this is the case for the Care Standard Act 2000 (Legislation 2000; Pathways Associates n.d). The impact of policy, legislation, regulation, and codes of practice The impact of Quality Protects Program, The Care Standard Act 2000, and Codes of Practice for Employers of Social Care Workers on organization policy and practice can be said to have a net increase in the efficiency of services offered to clients. Generally, the new policies, legislations, and codes of practice lead to more tight policy formulation. They also increase responsibilities to various parties in the healthcare settings. For instance, the Quality Protects program requires staff training and development among other requirements. This means that organizations affected by this policy will have to include staff development in their policies. In some cases, strict organizational policies are formed in response to national policy formulations. The Codes of Practice for Employers of Social Care Workers put more responsibility of healthcare organizations on the employers. The employers may be called to account for some mistakes which may arise due to incompetence of workers. In response therefore, an organization may adopt more strict recruiting policies, zero tolerance to staff members who do not seem to take their duties seriously and even introduce mandatory advanced training sessions for the staff. References Care in the Vale 2013, Principles of Care and Support, viewed 8 April 2013, . General Social Care Council 2010 Codes of Practice for Employers Social Care workers, viewed 8 April 2013, . Labspace 2013, Health Management, Ethics and Research Module: Ethical Dilemmas in Health Service Delivery, viewed 8 April 2013, . Legislation 2000, Care Standard Act 2000, viewed 8 April 2013, . Management Action Plan 2001, Transforming the Management and Delivery of Children’s Social Services, viewed 8 April 2013, . National Ageing Research Institute 2006, What is person-centred health care: A literature review, viewed 8 April 2013, . National Health Service 2013, Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers, viewed 8 April 2013, . Pathways Associates n.d, The Care Standards Act 2000 and Supporting People, viewed 8 April 2013, . Victorian Government 2008, Person Centred Practice: Guide to implementing person-centred practice in your health service, viewed 8 April 2013, . Welsh Government 2011, Care Standard Act 2000, viewed 8 April 2013, . Read More