Kisenyi Mukalere
2/5/23
Unit 7 - Task 1: Principles of Safe Practice in Health and Social
Care
This report evaluates the significance of complaints procedures and a duty of
care when it comes to the promotion of safe practice within a social service
such as a drop-in centre. This report will also provide justifications for
procedures that respond to concerns of abuse neglect in a drop-in centre.
The Beeches drop-in centre is a social care setting that features adults of all
ages, many of which are homeless and have disorganised lives. The centre has
two main staff members, a social worker and a registered nurse alongside
other volunteers who do not work full time. The service users of the drop-in
centre have health and social issues. Although attending the drop-in centre
under the influence of alcohol is prohibited, some service users turn up drunk.
Some service users suffer from depression and anxiety as a result of mental
health problems and are ostracised by other users of the service. Outbreaks
of violence that resulted in injury have occurred in the centre as a result of
conflicts between the service users. The centre keeps no records of accidents,
incidents and attendance. Service users of the centre are frequently drunk
when attending despite this not being allowed at the centre, staff attempts to
verbally remove the offenders are not effective as the offenders continue to
harass late attendees outside. Fire doors are locked in order to prevent users
of the service from taking drugs in the backyard. Two service users struggle
with phobias when it comes to certain foods, making mealtimes significantly
more difficult for them. The centre is situated in an old council building which
does not have step-free access. Various service users that attend the centre
have faced abuse before.
A duty of care is a legal obligation that applies to all health and social care
professionals and organisations such as social workers and registered nurses.
It dictates that professionals must act in ways that are in the best interests of
others, must not act in any way that causes harm and must only perform
things that are within their personal competence (Bilingham et al., 2015).
Professionals owe a duty of care to their employers, themselves, the public,
their colleagues and their service users. In the Beeches centre, a duty of care
is not being met as service users have been injured within the centre due to
outbreaks of violence and records are not consistently being made, and this
can be dangerous as it leaves room for service users to be more susceptible
to future harm and injury. The drop in centre staff can fulfil their duty of care
in a multitude of ways. For example, they can protect the health and safety of
the service users at the drop-in centre by preventing and condemning
aggressive behaviour. They can also fulfil their duty of care by ensuring there
is safe practice within the centre and uphold rights and promote interests of
those experiencing abuse and neglect at the centre, for example policies and
procedures can be set that can help them to take accurate records of events
and attendance consistently, they can also uplift service users who are being
, ostracised by other users of the service by having more inclusive activities for
service users to engage in.
Complaints and appeals procedures allow there to be a structured and more
efficient way in which service users can present complaints and receive
outcomes and or responses based on those complaints, they also allow room
for a decision to be appealed. For example, if a service user at Beeches drop-
in centre had a complaint about feeling unsafe due to witnessing violence
within the centre, they should first raise it with them through a staff member
such as the registered nurse in order to see if a suitable outcome can be
reached, if this is not the case and they wish to appeal the outcome, they can
then complain to the local council. This process would make it easier for
service user’s to make their complaints as it is a straightforward and efficient
process, and allows them to know who they can confide in. It is important to
ensure that service users know how to complain and how they can appeal
outcomes, and this can be done through the usage of clear and concise
policies and procedures. Although service users at the centre may feel
uncomfortable coming forward with their complaints due to fear of being
subjected to violence as a result of speaking up, complaints and appeals
procedures can address failures within the centre as it allows the service
users to talk about concerns that they have such as feeling unsafe due to
witnessing violence, and this may highlight ways in which their needs are not
being met and also provide information for the centre on ways and or areas in
which they can improve (Bilingham et al., 2015). For example, the registered
nurse, volunteers and social worker can take steps to de-escalate situations
before they result in violence as well as set out clear expectations for
behaviour within the centre (NICE, 2020). These procedures can also highlight
other reasons why service users feel they are being discriminated against,
abused and or neglected. The investigation of these complaints can further
allow the drop-in centre to determine reasons and causes behind such
complaints as these complaints should be investigated by an individual
independent of the cause of the complaint in order to reach a less biassed
and thorough conclusion. Taking complaints seriously can help provide
service users at the centre with the confidence to come forward with any
complaints that they have, which can allow the centre to address even more
issues with the care they are providing. This is important because it allows
them a chance to improve without the involvement of a regulatory body such
as the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which has the power to shut the centre
down.
Balancing individual rights with a duty of care is very important because it
can help the nurse, social worker and volunteers to provide more
personalised care. They can do this by incorporating what treatment a service
user would like to receive as balancing their rights with a duty of care allows
service users to be more independent. This also helps to prevent service users
from feeling as though they are losing independence, preventing avoidable
conflicts from occurring. Although this will not prevent all conflict, lowering the
chances of outbreaks of violence, enabling care to be received more
efficiently as this would encourage service users to feel safe and therefore
