Unit 7: Principles of Safe Practice in Health and Social Care
P1, M1, D1
A practitioner has duty of care to their service user, ensuring the safety and
well-being of that individual is of quality standard. A duty of care is defined as
being a legal obligation to always act in the best interests of the service user
and any others that may be affected by your actions.
• Definition of duty of care by Care Certificate, Standard 3: ‘A duty of care
means that you must aim to provide high quality care to the best of your
ability and say if there are any reasons why you may be unable to do so’.
• Definition of duty of care by Unison duty of care handbook: ‘As a health
or social care worker you owe a duty of care to your patients/service
users, your colleagues, your employer, yourself and the public interest’.
Duty of care can include anything from making sure a client is taking their
medication or making sure their home is free from dangerous hazards. It can
also mean working with other professionals on the client’s behalf, such as
getting advice from their GP if they refuse their medication or contacting the
police or social services safeguarding team if you have suspicions that there
has been abuse. Staff at Merryvale Residence may be in contact with dementia
specialists like a psychiatrist who have experience in treating dementia or even
a neurologist (specialists in the brain and nervous system). Having extra
contacts can help support the staff in providing the best care for the residence.
It involves promoting choice for individuals, sometimes in difficult
circumstances. To take choices away from them would constitute as abuse if
they are capable of making their own decisions from the information provided
to them. For example, patients in Zebra Ward are children, they will be talked
through their potential options when it comes to making a decision, however,
the final decision will be made by their parent or career. As they are still too
young to contemplate all the appropriate information to make an informed
decision concerning their health.
When a service user no longer has the capacity to make their own decisions it
is in the right of a trusted family member, friend or even carer to be consulted
and involved in the making of a best interest decision, alongside the individual,
where appropriate. Acting in someone’s best interests is a statutory principle
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, set out in section 4 of the Mental Capacity Act. It states that 'Any act done, or a
decision made, under this Act or on behalf of a person who lacks capacity must
be done, or made, in his best interests'. The Mental Capacity Act 2005
Resource and Practice Toolkit, [online].
Practitioners also have a duty of candour; legislated by the Health and Social
Care Act 2008. This means to be open and honest with patients when
something goes wrong with their treatment or care, causes or has potential to
cause harm or distress. Therefore, healthcare professionals must tell the
patient in a calm manner, apologise to the patient whilst offering an
appropriate remedy or support to put matters right explaining fully the short
and long term effects of the incident.
Following this, health care professionals must also be open and honest with
their colleagues, employers and relevant organisations, be take part in reviews
and investigations when requested. Everyone within a teamed workforce must
encourage each other to be open and honest, never stopping someone from
raising a concern as this has potential to be life threatening. If a member of
staff at Merryvale Residence was aware (for example) that another employee
had caused the bruises on the woman’s neck and arms, it would be their duty
(Care Act 2008) to report this. They could be made aware of this by witnessing
it directly or by boasting about it in the staff room, like in the case of
Winterbourne View. Reporting such events on behalf of the victims can
prevent the abuse from continuing or potentially becoming worse, as they may
not have the confidence to do it themselves. It would be set out in their job
description that they must report anything which effects the patients badly,
the would not be fulfilling their duty of care if they didn’t which is set of in
the Care Act 2008.
Women’s aid suggests it is important to report any concerns of abuse as the
danger of not doing so can be fatal for the victim. Once reported the police
have a responsibility to respond and investigate any concerning evidence.
A whistleblowing procedure allows employees to report any suspected wrong
doings by their employer without any backlash. This alerts the higher
authorities, enabling them to become involved as a last resort after other
complaints have failed. Whistleblowing occurs after an issue has a risen and
complaints to combat this has failed but before anything too threatening
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