Unit 41 - Working with Medication in Health and Social Care
Institution
Pearson (PEARSON)
M2: Compare the responsibilities and level of accountability assigned to individuals involved in the administration of medication.
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Unit 41 - Working with Medication in Health and Social Care
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Unit 41 M2 Roles and responsibilities Megan Scully
M2: Compare the responsibilities and level of accountability assigned to individuals involved in the
administration of medication.
General practitioners (GP’s), are localised family doctors who are commonly the initial point of
contact in regards to any general health concerns. GP’s have a significant role in assessing, treating
and supporting individuals with their needs. General practitioners are responsible for identifying the
condition of the service user and prescribing medications according to this. This means that GP's
must be knowledgeable on side-effects and what the medication consists of. This is important as
some patients may have allergies to medications with reactions ranging from mild to severe. It is the
general practitioner's duty to ensure that they prescribe the correct medication and ensure that it is
suitable and safe for the patient to take.
Pharmacists often work in hospital environments but can also work in chemists and pharmacies
serving communities. Pharmacies dispense medications and provide advice on a variety of
treatments. Most individuals prefer to go to the pharmacist due to it being less formal and
intimidating that visiting the surgery whilst also being a convenience. Hospital pharmacists will
provide advice to doctors regarding medication combinations and side-effects. Pharmacists are
responsible for adhering to regulations regarding safe practice in order to ensure the safety of the
patients and other members of staff. The pharmacist is responsible for the correct dispensing of
medication, which is extremely important as it could be extremely dangerous to prescribe a different
medication to a patient than was described. A danger could be that the patient is severely allergic to
penicillin, for example, they are prescribed a penicillin free medication, but are dispensed a penicillin
based medication by the pharmacist. This would make the pharmacist accountable for the error.
Accountability has developed into a key issue within health and social care. Accountability involves
policies and procedures in which an individual validates and takes responsibility for their actions.
The theory of accountability involves three crucial elements; the locus of accountability, the area of
accountability and the procedures of accountability. Accountability is also extremely important for
patient safety. Accountability is to be responsible for yourself and others for your own actions.
Those in health and social care professions have a duty to be accountable for their colleagues,
patients, family members of patients, the workplace and the profession the professional is in. Health
and social care professionals should therefore hold themselves accountable for the advocacy of the
patient, continued education of colleagues and the continuation of care.
Confidentiality is one of the primary duties of a health and social care professional. It necessitates
the professional to ensure that the personal information regarding a patient remains private at all
times unless consent is provided by the patient to liberate the information. Many patients
frequently reveal personal information with health and social care professionals and so the trust in
the patient-professional relationship could be effected if this information is not kept confidential.
Breaking trust through sharing the personal information of a patient would make it doubtful as to
whether the patient would opt to share sensitive information in the future, which may have a
harmful effect on their care. Conserving confidentiality may aid in increasing the willingness of the
patient to pursue care. In scenarios with conditions that may be embarrassing or defaming to the
patient, for example, sexual health, psychiatric health or reproductive health, conserving
confidentiality ensures that personal information is not shared with family members or employers
without the consent of the patient. This obligation ensures that health and social care professionals
take precautionary actions to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive
information regarding the patient. Appropriate care often necessitates teams of professionals to
discuss the care of the patient which means the access of confidential information, meaning all of
these professionals assume the duty of guarding this sensitive information from those without
authorization to view it. Automated healthcare records pose a safety risk to confidentiality and so
the Information Portability and Accountability Act 1997 (HIPAA), was introduced, ensuring that
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