Lecture notes
Unit 7 Principles of safe practice in health and social care
- Institution
- University Of Winchester (UoW)
Unit 7 Principles of safe practice in health and social care
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lOMoARcPSD|3013804Unit 7 - Principles of safe practice in health and
social care
Media Health And Social Care (University of Winchester)
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Unit 7
Principles of safe practice in health and social care
Key words:
● Duty
● Requirements
● Legislation
● Regulation
● Rights
● Assignment brief
● Duty of care
● Legal obligation
● Framework
ASSIGNMENT 1
● Learning Aim A = examine how a duty of care contributes safe practice in health and
social care settings.
● Learning Aim B = understand how to recognise and respond to concerns about abuse
and neglect in health and social care settings.
ASSIGNMENT 2
● Learning Aim C = investigate the influence of health and safety legislation and
policies in health and social care settings.
● Learning Aim D = explore procedures and responsibilities to maintain health and
safety and respond to accident and emergencies in health and social care settings.
Why are safe practices important in health and social care?
Safe practices are important in health and social care because it keeps people safe and
healthy, and avoids accidents. For example, if a nurse left surgical equipment lying around
then a child or other individual could pick it up and cause themselves harm. Another
example could be, if you didn’t lock the chemical cupboard at a day centre for people with
learning difficulties, they could burn themselves on bleach or cause an accident to
themselves.
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Duty of Care
A moral or legal obligation to ensure the safety or well-being of others. It protects wellbeing
and prevents harm.
● Code of conduct
● Protecting
● Risk vs rights
● Beneficence
● Safe practice
Staff in health and social care settings have a legal obligation to always act in the best
interests of the service user’s beneficence. Staff should always know their competency
limits and not take on any task they cannot perform safely. Staff should protect individuals
from abuse or neglect by reporting any incidents they are aware or suspect safeguarding.
A.1 Duty of care is a legal obligation to protect wellbeing and prevent harm
● Ensuring safe practice is ensuring that policies and procedures are followed for the
benefit of the service user, the organisation and the employee.
● Policies and procedures prevent risk and provide a guideline on how to respond to
hazards.
● Staff in health and social care settings follow a code of conduct.
● This is a framework on how to behave in an appropriate way, to maintain the quality
of care and wellbeing of service users.
● Part of the code of conduct is professional boundaries. Staff must not be
emotionally involved with service users.
● When these standards are not met, service users can be at risk.
TURN INTO A PARAGRAPH
Duty of care is a legal obligation to protect wellbeing and prevent the harm of others. Duty
of care ensures that policies and procedures are followed for the benefit of the service
user, the organisation and employee. For example, the lone working policy is a set of rules
used by organisations stating about working alone and the risks the employee may face.
An example of this could be, for a professional working with drug, alcohol or substance
abuse individuals, they could potentially face verbal or physical abuse. Sometimes, the
patient might be more of a risk to themselves, and the staff member could be unable to
raise the alarm if they are alone. Policies and procedures prevent risks, like the one I just
mentioned, and provide a guide on how to respond to hazards in the health and social care
setting. Staff in health and social care settings must follow a code of conduct set out by the
organisation manager. The code of conduct is a set or rules, responsibilities and proper
practices for an individual. Part of this code of conduct is professional boundaries. Staff
must not be emotionally involved with the service user; this is for their own safety and for
the safety of
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their patient and to keep them from risks. They must follow the set of guidelines during
their work in a health and social care setting or another setting. It is also a framework on
how on how to behave in an appropriate way, to maintain the quality of care and wellbeing
of the service users.
Acting in a person’s best interests
● When working in any setting, you may get concerned about the choices that some
service users may make… examples?
● You might think your choice would be better.
● Interests could lead you acting in a way that you think is in their best interests from
preventing them from doing what they want.
● However, you can only do this if you have their consent, or evidence that the person
lacks capacity to make that particular decision – Mental Capacity Act 2005
TURN INTO A PARAGRAPH
Acting in a person’s best interests is following the Mental Capacity Act 2005, where the
professional acts in a way or makes decisions on behalf of an individual lacking the capacity
to make a proper decision for themselves. This can be for financial, health and social
benefits for the user. For a professional working in any setting, they may get concerned
about the choices a service user makes. For example, the service user hasn’t had enough
information to decide between two drastic options for their own treatment and are
considered to have a mental health issue, then they may need more encouragement to go
for the less risky option to decrease the chance of death and further injury. However, a
professional may think their choice would be better. You should give an unbiased view but
suggest the service user to take time to make their own decision about the care route they
believe is better. By having a strong view and influencing their decision by acting in a way
that you think is in their best interest, you may be preventing the service user from doing
what they want. This is not giving them their rights and can put the professional in a
difficult situation if something later on is brought up. You can only do this if you have their
consent or evidence that the person lacks the capacity to make that particular decision, to
prevent court action, suspension or further action and by following the rules in the Mental
Capacity Act 2005.
Independent research task
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