Introduction to duty of care in health, social care or childrens,s and young people’s settings
Outcome 1
1. Duty of care, in any setting, is the level of service that is expected, as a minimum, to be provided.
In health care and social care, this may include:
• act in the best interests of individuals
• do not act or fail to act in a way that could cause harm
• always act within your own competence and do not do something which you can not do safely
2. Duty of care affects my own work role by following all policies and procedures set by the company, going on training days when available, always ensuring the clients are safe within their enviroments and respecting the rights of each client
Outcome 2
1. Sometimes individuals may want to do something which could be a risk to their Health and safety. As a support worker you have a duty of care to that person and you must do all that you can to keep them safe but you also have a duty to respect the individuals rights and choice, so you have a dilemma. It could be that the individual no longer wishes to use their walking sticks, but their care plan states that they needs them to enable movement of their joints and you are to ensure you encourage it’s use and not the wheelchair. In this scenario you could carry out a risk assessment to ensure that it is managed as safely as possible. You would need to explain the risks involved to the individual and make sure they understand. You could come to a compromise, to use the wheelchair for a short period of time and then walk with the sticks for a short period of time, , then monitor the situation. All this should be documented including any risk assessment carried out. If the individual still insists on using the wheelchair you should get them to sign to say they are aware of the risks involved. Another scenario could be that an individual refuses their medication. Remind them of why they take the medication and it’s benefits and again advise