Essay
(UNIT 7 TASK 1) LEVEL 3 health and social care (DISTINCTION)
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
includes all criteria and references p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 m1 m2 m3 m4 d1 d2
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Unit 7: Principles of safe practice in health and social careLearning aim: Examine how a duty of care contributes to safe practice in health and
social care settings.
Task 1
Case study: One (adult):
Walters NHS Trustholly Ward: The Walters NHS Trustholly Ward is a surgical ward for planned and
emergency procedures. This ward provides surgical care for fifteen male service users. Martin
Chambers is the ward manager and is supported by a team of registered nurses and healthcare
assistants.
Robert Brown, with learning disabilities was admitted for surgery on his left arm after an accident at
home. Robert developed intense diarrhoea and vomiting whilst in hospital, which was not related to
his surgery. Before Robert because ill he had eaten a cottage pie that tasted “Funny”. He said he ate
the pie because he was so hungry as he never ate enough food at home. This could mean he is being
physically neglected at home by not being properly fed. As maybe his parents/carers are not feeding
him properly. His parents want to make a complaint against the hospital accusing them on neglect;
this could be. However, it could be the parents covering up the fact they are the abusers.
When the parents ask the ward manager to complain he says this is not possible he stated, “The
complaints procedure is being reviewed and therefore unavailable” The ward manager then accused
the parents of “starving him” as he had overeaten when the opportunity arose. But the parents denied.
The parents said that Robert makes up stories to gain attention. however, the nurse who has been
caring for him says that he always complains about being hungry and is underweight for his height.
Robert tells the nurses that he is “Not allowed to eat at home without permission” but when the
manager is then notified about this, he says, “he probably doesn't understand about eating properly”
Another nurse thinks that there was a problem with the food in the hospital; several service users
have become ill. but the manager *told her not to discuss this (this then makes us think that the
hospital is guilty of Robert becoming ill). The nurse did not like the fact she was told to keep silent
about the issue she had addressed, so she decided she wanted to make a complaint, however she
was unsure who she could send a complaint to. and, was unsure if the law would protect her whilst
doing so.
Case study two (child):
Zebra Ward: The Zebra Ward is an organisation which cares for young children, from ages six
months to two years. Caring for a range of medical conditions. The case study particularly focuses on
brother and sister; Lucy and Kevin. Reason being, post a car accident whilst their father was driving
which resulted in them needing emergency care.
The car accident involved a stone wall. The consequence of this was, both Kevin and Lucy getting
badly injured. There injuries listed, broken bones and bruises to the face. They were not properly
strapped into their seats! A duty doctor on the ward examined the children and found two marks she
believed to be burns, on the children. The father was questioned by the doctor, but the father insisted
and blamed the mentally ill and unstable mother who had previously died did this to them. But signs
point that this was not true to the doctors, as the burn marks seemed to look more recent than when
the mother had past… This gave the doctors thoughts of maybe the children were being abused by
the father and there was potential the accident was not an accident.
The nurse gave the children sedatives to help them sleep, however did not complete record that they
had consumed these drugs. As the nurse wanted to finish his rounds, he also did not make records of
the marks they had.
,The father was suspiciously not injured whatsoever and therefore sent home. This brings a cause for
concern to others and makes them think that maybe the father hurt the children on purpose as its very
convenient they are injured, and he is not.
A social worker visited the children and examined their behaviour and noticed the children do not act
normal when they see their father. Very strange… Lucy cried when the father picked her up from the
cot whereas any other six-month child would probably be happy to see the person they know most.
Whereas Kevin ages four hid under the bed this could mean that Kevin is to an extent scared of his
own father. On the other hand, the nurse believed it was delayed shock post the accident, but the
social worker disagreed and spoke to the ward manager, who claimed he would not discuss these
issues with visitors.
Purpose of the assignment-Introduction: The purpose of this assignment is to discuss the
principles of safe practice in health and social care. Essentially increasing my knowledge in this area,
In the health and social care sector; ‘safe practice’ is extremely important! as you will learn and
understand as you read through this assignment. Beyond discussing safe care, I will link each
question to my two chosen case studies, which are; Walters NHS trustholly ward, zebra ward.
Moreover, I will also be examining duty of care, risks and hazards. Duty of care being; a moral or legal
obligation to ensure the safety or well-being of others. A hazard being; a potential source of hard or
adverse health effect on a person and a risk being; the likelihood that a person may be harmed or
suffers adverse health effects if exposed to a hazard.
Duty of care: A legal or moral obligation, to ensure the well-being or safety of others.
Safe practice:
Safe practice is very important to the promotion of dignity in care. There are several legal
measures and regulations to support health and safety at work. These are intended to
protect people in work, those using services and the wider public
Hazard: Is a potential source of harm or adverse health effect on a person or persons.
Risk: Is
the likelihood that a person may be harmed or suffers adverse health effects if exposed to a
hazard.
Safeguarding: The term safeguarding is used to define actions taken to protect vulnerable groups
from harm. This harm might come from adults or other children and, as someone working closely with
vulnerable groups, it’s important you understand what safeguarding is and why it’s important.
p1: Explain the implications of a duty of care in a selected health or social care setting. What is
the duty of care in health and social care? and if not addressed what may happen to the employees,
patients and the workplace? Duty of care in a workplace is a legal obligation for individuals in the
sector that requires them to follow a standard of reasonable care. ensuring the service users and the
service providers themselves are not in any danger, or at any risk. for example, protecting individuals
from bullying, discrimination and harassment. In a workplace assessment will be carried out to
highlight risks and hazards. or a danger of not being looked after correctly. This results in endangered
individuals and if this is not addressed it will be the services fault and they will take full responsibility
for the miss treatment or unsafe environment. In a workplace there are policies and procedures,
codes of practice, agreed standards and instructions a care worker should follow. in order to maintain
a competent workforce. and provide the best service for their service users. As a care worker you
would ensure that the service provided is ensuring the patients choices, needs, rights and desires are
met to the best of their ability. The care worker is responsible for assessing possible risk. One
example of where duty of care had been used in a care setting is with the case study ‘zebra ward’
They have followed regulations This is clearly shown when it stated “the duty doctor examines the
children, she notices bruises at the base of Kevin’s spine and round marks on Lucy's neck that
resembles burns” The doctor has shown a good duty of care as he does not just ignore this he
recognises they aren't normal this consequently results in the doctor questioning the father on
suspicion of abuse. This also shows a good duty of care, because the doctor realised these injuries
the children could then be helped as they could be in pain; this shows a concern for the children's
health and safety at home and in the hospital. This is also good because if they were to investigate
further into the home life of the children and their behaviours, they may find they are being abused by
the father and can take action to stop this; possibly by taking the children away from their father. if the
doctor had ignored these indications of possible abuse it would show a bad duty of care as the
, children could repeatedly be harmed by the father in the future. and he would be getting away with
physically abusing them with no consequences. due to being unnoticed with no consequences he will
feel to carry on. Despite the doctor noticing and questioning the father about the injuries on the
children. The doctor did not take note of the bruises and burn marks; therefore, will not be checked or
monitored. This shows a poor duty of care as if the children happen to get more bruises and more
abused again, no one will know as they are not being monitored. This is all the doctor’s responsibility
and could potentially be putting the children's safety and lives at risk. In this scenario there are
improvements the doctor could have made and done the first-time round. He should have noted down
the children's injuries instead of rushing to finish his shift. as a consequence of his bad duty of care
the children will now not be monitored to see if they are getting better or worse. and to prove the
father innocent or guilty of this crime, he is at suspicion of doing. This shows the doctor is putting
individual’s safety first (children) showing a good duty of care and safeguarding; rather than when his
shift ends.
The manager turned the social worker away saying “he cannot discuss this issue with visitors” this is
highly unprofessional of the manager. as the social workers play a very important role of ensuring
their patients are mentally and physically safe. This then meant the social worker could not get their
point across to higher members of the workplace to resolve the serious issue. This implies that the
manager does not care about individual safely showing he is not taking his job role seriously.
Whereas if the ward manager had gone through with speaking to the social worker about the issue,
which he should have! the children could have been monitored. The social worker would continue to
talk to the child, most children who are being abused find it very difficult to talk about, so by having
ongoing conversations the time may come when they are ready to talk. The social worker could then
keep a diary; this is a good way to keep note of concerns and behaviours, also helping spot patterns.
The social worker could then talk to the child's teacher of health visitor as they may have also
recognised unusually behaviour. she could have gotten someone else's perspective and ask what
they think about your concerns whether it be a family member, nspcc helpline chancellor or a friend.
and reposted her worries to a helpline. with a name or anonymously.
d1:Evaluate the significance of a duty of care and complaints procedures in the selected
health and social care setting. Although many people in the health and social care sector know
what duty of care is they do not understand the importance of it in different health and social care
settings. Duty of care contributes to safeguarding and the protection of individuals, by keeping
individuals safe whether its harm, injury, abuse or harm. This can be successful by involving families,
health care professionals and other agencies into the care plan. Duty of care is a legal requirement
and there are legislations around safeguarding, there are policies and procedures and code of
conduct. By following these guidelines; it will show that they are providing the best care possible.
Also, the care worker must carry out a risk assessment before an activity making sure the service
user/patient, is aware of these risks. This is so important to carry out in case the individual is unable to
participate for health reasons. https://phdessay.com/duty-of-care-in-health-and-social-care/
Potential risks and dilemmas that may arise between the duty of care and an individual's rights: There
could be potential conflicts or dilemmas that may arise between the duty of care and an individual's
rights. This means to enable service users’ rights to do what they want; whilst making them aware of
risks and harm to others. The service provider must not stop the service user from making a choice.
When there are concerns that the service user does not understand the risks, there is an incapacity
test and if the test comes back, they do not have the capacity the service providers will make the
decisions for them in order to obtain safety. It is easy to assume the service user doesn't have the
capability to make educated decisions; by their disabilities.
A potential dilemma is that is the service user would like to smoke they must have an area set up for
them to do so, and the service provider can make them aware of the harms and risk involved for not
only themselves but others around to. However, the service user is more than entitled to and had full
right to smoke. If a mental health patient is refusing to take their medicine this is a dilemma. As the
patient has the right to refuse but you as the care worker it is your role to explain to them the harm
and risks, they are going to face if the medicine isn't taken. If they followed through with not taking the
medication, they need a care worker can get help from a range of other professionals such as; family
members, mental health nurse or psychologist. Family is a great way to persuade the patient to take
their medication as they know family want what's best for them and are therefore more likely to take
their advice, over a professional who they are a stranger to. Seeking advice and guidance from other
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