Essay
UNIT 18 - P4/P5
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
UNIT 18 P4/P5. HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE LEVEL 3 BTEC. ALL CRITERIA PASSED.
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(P4) In a health care setting, there are legislations, policies and a code of practise all staffmembers and workers have to follow and abide by.
Legislations are a set of laws or could be a law that is set by the government. These ensure
that the society is responsible and organised as well as everyone being treated equally.
Policies are a set of rules which determine work standards, as well as ensuring the legislations
and code of practise are followed and met. These ensure that the workplace is run smoothly,
and everyone is following the regulations needed.
Code of practise are documents that inform you of the safety laws and the expected behaviour
of employees. These ensure that the public are treated in an appropriate manner and that
staff members know what kind of behaviour and attitude is expected from them.
The 2 legislations I will be talking about is the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Health and
Safety at Work Act 1974.
The Data Protection Act 1998 is a legislation which protects the information given to
healthcare services by patients in confidentiality. This act states that all the information given
must be used fairly and for specified purposes as well as handling it with appropriate security.
This ensures that there is a stronger protection on sensitive information such as race, religious
beliefs, ethnicity and sexual orientation. This acts also gives you the right to be informed
about how your information is being used and making sure the information is discarded
appropriately after its been used. This act ensures that the information of the patients isn’t
misused or handled illegally. This means that it shouldn’t be given to anyone other than those
who are meant to handle it like doctors and pharmacists as it could violate the rights of the
patients. This is because if the information is in the wrong hands, it could cause many
problems such as identity theft and fraud, which will lead to the healthcare service being
blamed and held responsible for the information being easily accessible, which is why this act
was introduced as it helps maintain confidentiality and privacy.
This legislation affects the healthcare people receive as it ensures your information is only
shared with you and other healthcare professionals which are involved in your treatment. This
gives the patient reassurance that their information isn’t being used for anything else other
their health and care treatment. For example, in a hospital or GP, the information you give
such as full name, date of birth, address and phone number such all be kept confidential. This
means that the only people that are allowed to access it are your doctors and the receptionist
at the front desk. The information is in the hands of those individuals, so they shouldn’t be
laying around where anyone can easily access them as in GP’s and hospital, they often update
your files with what medical conditions the patient has and what medication they are/will be
taking. This information also affects how the patient is treated as it contains information such
as your ethnic background and sexual orientation which could affect how you are treated and
what type of treatment you get as sometimes you get discriminated against based on your
information.
The Health and Safety Act 1998 is a legislation that ensures the health and safety of employees
as well as everyone who is on premises, including members of the public and visitors. This act
states that the employers have duty to protect the health and safety of their employees at
work as well as the other people visiting there including temporary workers, self-employed
workers, clients and visitors/the general public. This act also states that the environment must
be safe for everyone which means the environment must be clean and not cause any infections
or diseases as the employer will be held responsible. This act ensures that everyone in that
setting is safe and out of harm’s way and that the environment is safe enough and suitable for
the members of the public as well as employees. This means that the premises shouldn’t be
damaged or unsuitable for life as if the premises are hazardous, people are more prone to get
hurt or suffer injuries, which will hold the service provider liable and responsible as they
should ensure the premises is safe.
This legislation affects the healthcare people receive as if the healthcare service isn’t in a safe
environment, then the service users will be at risk of getting hurt and won’t be receiving
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