Lauren Cleveland
Unit 7: Assignment 2
Policies, laws and procedures in health and social care help hold employees accountable for
following the right steps when caring for patients. They create a standard for practices
across the organisations and ensures every patient receives the same level of care.
These include:
Health and Safety at Work Act (1974)
This act is a very important piece of health and safety legislation, this is because it helps to
safeguard and protect people. Under the Health and Safety Act the employers must ensure
that the environment is safe, also they must provide training and equipment to employees.
Along with health and safety policies and procedures with the actions to take if an issue
arises. Employees must follow these policies and use safety equipment and protection
provided by those higher up. This is to prevent placing themselves or service users at risk of
harm as a result of their actions.
Data Protection Act (1998)
This act covers information or data stored on a computer or an organised paper filing
system about living people. It was developed to control how personal or customer
information is used by organisations or government bodies; it protects people and lays
down rules about how data about people can be used.
The Data Protection Act is important because it provides guidance and best practice rules
for organisations and the government to follow on how to use personal data including:
1. Regulating the processing of personal data
2. Protecting the rights of the data subject
3. Enabling the Data Protection Authority (The ICO) to enforce rules
4. Holding organisations liable to fines in the event of a breach of the rules
Data protection Act is shown to be in practice on Zebra Ward. This is displayed when the
ward manager refuses to disclose any information regarding Kevin and Lucy to a visitor.
Even though the visitor is a social worker and may contribute beneficial information
concerning their situation, abiding by the law is essential to protect service users and staff
members. Disclosing personal and private information unnecessarily can prevent service
users from trusting staff. This is an especially important aspect relating to Kevin and Lucy
because they are suspected abuse victims, without trust Kevin (four years old) may be less
likely to reveal vital information to staff on how he received the bruises on his spine. If the
trust is lost between a service user and care giver this can prevent them from receiving the
help they need and put them at risk of further potential abuse which could lead to death.
GDPR (2018)
GDPR is a European regulation focussing on protecting all personal information by any
organisation operating within Europe. Everyone using people’s personal data has to follow
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strict rules called ‘data protection principles’. They make sure the information is used fairly,
lawfully and transparently. GDPR's seven principles are: lawfulness, fairness and
transparency; purpose limitation; data minimisation; accuracy; storage limitation; integrity
and confidentiality (security); and accountability.
Care Act (2014)
The Care Act helps to improve people's independence and wellbeing. It makes clear that
local authorities must provide or arrange services that help prevent people developing
needs for care and support or delay people deteriorating such that they would need
ongoing care and support. Care Act factsheets, Department of Health & Social Care (2016)
[online].
This is a new law bringing all previous sections of other laws together into one place which
gives the clear and simple rules and guidance on the law, on care and support for adults in
England. Also, this provides for those turning from a child to an adult who needs to continue
their support and care.
Care Standards Act (2000)
The Care Standards Act 2000 set up the Commission for Social Care Inspection which
established a new system of national minimum standards for all residential and nursing
homes and domiciliary services. Its primary function is to promote improvements in social
care. Assessing the mental health needs of older people, Social care institute for excellence
(2006) [online].
This was introduced to regulate and ensure that agencies/ provides were competent in their
duty of care, and to develop a level playing field for all service providers by regulating,
inspecting and reviewing services in accordance with the Act.
The Standards are built upon five principles; dignity and respect, compassion, be included,
responsive care and support and wellbeing.
Equality Act (2010)
The equality act legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider
society. It states that you can’t discriminate someone on the grounds of, age, disability,
gender, sexual orientation, race, religious beliefs (protected characteristics).
Covering everyone in Britain by protecting people from discrimination, harassment and
victimisation; which empowers and promotes diversity.
The Equality Act 2010 relates to Merryvale Residence. The two females in a same sex
relationship are protected by this act because they fall under ‘protected characteristics’,
being that you can’t discriminate on the grounds sexual orientation. If this act was not
issued, the females would be mistreated for their personal choice on being in a same-sex
relationship. The Equality Act 2010 stops acts of mistreatment; without this act service users
could easily be mistreated and staff members would not be held accountable for any
discrimination towards them.
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The Manual Handling Operations Regulations (1992 and 2002)
This regulation outlines different techniques on how to lift heavy things. All staff and
employees should be taught and trained in manual handling, e.g. lifting heavy items like
boxes, chairs, tables. This is to protect themselves from injury.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations require an employer to carry out a risk
assessment on all manual handling tasks that pose an injury risk. Employees have a duty to
take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected
by their actions.
Food Hygiene Regulations (2006 and 2013)
Food hygiene regulations places an obligation on all ‘food businesses’ to make sure that
their activities are carried out hygienically. It sets out responsibilities of local authorities
when it comes to ensuring that local businesses are handling, preparing and serving food
that’s safe to eat. The regulations make it an offence to supply food which is unsafe to be
consumed and harmful to human health. It provides basic safety levels for food businesses,
ensuring that the appropriate level of public health protection is in place food businesses.
How do the 2013 Food Safety and Hygiene Regulations affect you, Virtual College (2019)
[online].
The food hygiene regulations relate to Merryvale Residence, as staff members within the
setting have left spilt food and drinks have been left on tables and in the staff room. Poor
food hygiene can lead to contamination, which, as a result of this, can put service users at
risk of catching harmful germs, which may lead to an impact on their health and well-being.
If this regulation is not followed, the food provided to service users may
put them in danger of infections, illness or possibly even death. Not
having the correct understanding of the different food hygiene procedures
such as ensuring to wash hands in between handling meat to vegetables
could lead to minor infections.
The importance of keeping up with efficient food hygiene is to keep
service users’ health safe, especially those who have allergens and cannot
be in contact or around certain foods and ingredients. Furthermore, the
food hygiene regulation contributes to safe practice as it ensures that
staff are correctly handling all types of foods, this keeps all service users
harm free, healthy and safe.
Control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH, 2012)
COSHH provides a frame work to help protect people in the workplace against health risks
from hazardous substances; including products containing chemicals, fumes, dusts, vapours,
mists, gases and germs. An employer has the overall responsibility for COSHH in the
workplace, they must make sure that COSHH assessments are carried out and controls are
in place to protect employees from exposure to any hazardous substances.
For example, in Merryvale Residence carer staff have taken upon domestic duties which
they have not been able to keep on top off, leading to spilt food and drinks being left on
work surfaces. This is poor practice. Due to residents being in direct contact with the spilt
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