Promoting Rights of Health and Social Care Users

Health and social care practice

Social and health care is now a corner of interest for all the citizens. Some human are born with disease, some are having after birth and some has nothing but age. Age related diseases are now having various dimensions. Diabetic, dementia, frail, cancer like diseases is infecting the elders pretty quickly. So they need medical and individualized care which is best served in the health and care service organizations. In this situation all employees are needed to be trained and motivated to do this important job.

1.1 Explain how current legislation and sector skills standards influence organisational policies and practices for promoting and maximising the rights of users of health and social care services.

Legislation

There are many laws that are applied and effective in the social and health care sector in the recent years. But the most revolutionary laws about the health and social care are stated below.

Modernising Social Services

The Modernising Social Services were published on the 1.1.1998. It emphasizes on the public protection, ensuring the best quality service, option of service and availability for adult and children.

The key features of the law are

• Service should be provided to the individual with respect and freedom. People don’t have to match their life with the social care system to get their desired service.
• People should have a say about what is his needs and how it can be met. Services should meet the asking issues and collaborate with the housing, education, health and social care or any other help that are needed by the customer.
• In UK all the part of the country should be under the same service coverage and the care must be financed fairly.
• Special Children that can stay on their home should have their opportunities to make a successful life like the normal kid.
• All the receivers of the service should be assured about the staff are well trained and the staff should be devoted enough to uphold their commitment, high quality standards of training.(Tudor-Hart, 2005)

To protect the people from the discrimination of gender, colour, race, ethnic origins, nationality and disability there is a strong legal structure. The main pillars of these structures are

• Amendment Regulations 2003 Race Relations Act 1976, Amendment 2000.
• Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Amendment in force from October 2004.
• Disability rights Commission Act 2000
• Employment Equality Regulations 2003
• Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Employment Relations Act 1999.
• Equal Pay Act 1976
• European Race and Employment Directive 2000
• Human rights Act 1998
• Protection from Harassment Act 1997
• Sex discrimination Act 1975, Amendment 1982, 1999.
• Sexual Orientation Regulation 2003 (Legislation England)

These are the legislation that is the pathway of the organization to work in the UK. Policy and the organizational practice need to be same as these laws. UK governments put these laws in front of the people to make them safe and assure about the social and health care service they intend to receive. The politics and the ministry are mainly dependent on social care and the public have a careful interest about how the government is working on the issues. So the government is very sincere about social care and health service.

Sector Skills Standards

The transformation of the social care workforce strategy body into Skills for Care happened in 2005, April 1st. This organization is concerned about the adults and their social care. But the children issue is not left. Another organization is assigned to that matter and the name of that organization is Children’s workforce Development Council. These two organizations are interrelated by “Skills for Care and Development” and its working rage is spreader not only in UK but also in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. (www.topssengland.net/)

Skills for Health were started in April 2002 with the direct support from the four health department in UK.

In October 2001 The Social Care Institute for Excellence was launched with an intention to provide knowledge about the good social care practice. Social care for the adult and children, social work education are the objectives of the SCIE. This government controlled organization to make the quality service available from the social care service providing organization.

Sector skills standards are maintained by these organizations. These organizations work as the tools of government to make the development, monitor the service, evaluate annually and control the policy and practice of the organization. Mass people’s complaints about the service, their feedback and the satisfaction level of their family are the concern of the organizations. To make the best outcome possible from the social service is the aim of this organization. So the individual who are receiving the social and health care are now feel relax and safe about the service they are having and this sets the standard bar even higher.

1.2 Analyze factors that may affect the achievement of promoting and maximising the rights of users of health and social care services.

The factors that can influence the achievement of the best possible of the users of health and social care services are given below:

Problem in communications

For providing information and the service there is a vas importance of the communication skills. Understanding among the service providing organization and the customer is relied on this. Sometime the customer cannot know what is best for his or her conditions. Customer sometime cannot choose the way of having the service. Organization can fail to give update service for its customers for the communications problem. Some disable persons need special language like sign language, body language or Braille. Legislation and the instruction need to be in understandable form for the customer. So the communication can appear as the obstacle for the customer or user of specific service.

Aggression:

Some patients become aggressive for their illness. They don’t like the attitude of the service provider and they don’t show enough patience to know what is best for him or her. For this situation service or the rights can be very difficult to apply.

Culture and belief:

Patient’s cultural need can be ignored by the health care provider. Different cultural patterns, attitudes, expectations and beliefs are belonged to the people, coming from different culture and country. So not able to understand the cultural value can appear as the barrier in the achievements.

Education and income:

Asking unnecessary information about their income and education is taken offensively sometime by the patients. Sometime the patients need pay the bill though they are not interested in paying. (Coiera, 2011).

1.3 Analyze how communication between care workers and individuals contribute to promoting and maximising the rights of users of health and social services.

The people who are having the health and social services are having problem in communicating with others. Sometimes they cannot understand the simple words. There can be a violent situation if the words from the speakers are working inversely. So before working along the customers the words should be chosen fairly and respectfully. There are some methods of communications and they are.

Awareness while speaking:

The care giver should be careful about their body language and voice tone while they are interacting with the patients. To make the patients more feel safe and healthy the care giver should communicate politely. The care giver can gain trust of the patient by behaving politely.

Mentioning name:

Patient likes to know their care giver. So care giver must state his or her name at the initial time of the conservation. Critical patient can find some relief by having a conversation about the home town.

Questioning:

Care giver or doctor should ask patient about the condition of his or her. During the questioning long sentences should be avoided. One short question at a time is eligible procedure at this type of situation. Some it is very convenient to ask questions that have only yes or no as answer. (Christensen and Silvestre, 2010)

2.1 Explain factors that may contribute to loss of independence, non participants and social exclusion for vulnerable people.

There are some factors that can cause loss of independence and social exclusion. They are dependent to care taker and sometime avoided in the decision making even when the decision is about the patient’s treatment or welfare.

Dependency:

Vulnerable adults or children are subjected to independency and social ban because of their dependency to the care giver. These vulnerable are sometime not allowed to live their daily life for inability or life threat. According to the service user’s mental and physical condition they are not sometime not permitted to spend their time and money on own willing. So the outcome is predictable, they lose their minimum ability to live their own life. This also makes them insulted as they don’t like to attend any social ceremony because of their dependency.

Keeping away from decision making:

Usually the patients or vulnerable persons are not allowed to make their own decision as it can make some unusual problem. This situation creates frustration among the individual and him or her become more minor.

Constraint:

This is the main cause of becoming dependent. Constraints become threat when the vulnerable person is bound o think like the normal people. So the adult vulnerable should be allowed to live their daily life but not all the work can be done by them. So the individual should be aware of his own inability and assisted to do some daily fundamental work. This will prevent the frustration, dependency and the bitter taste of reality. (Appleby, Raleigh, Frosini, Bevan, Gao and Lyscom, 2011)

2.2 Analyze how organizational systems and processes are managed to promote participation and independence of users of health and social care services.

Organization can promote participation and independence of individuals by providing training to staff, collection of feedback, monitoring and open resource of information for every individual.

Empowering individuals

All the service receivers should be appreciated and get the chance of empowering their hidden potentiality. Empowering the vulnerable can develop the quality and quantity of the service and its delivery. But there should be a guideline of working to participate with their potentiality. So the organization must make a statement to the service receivers about the benefit that can be done by their empowerment.

Measurement of individual’s performance:

The organization should available that all the staff is coping with the changes so they can perform well in the service. This will change the service quality and the service receiver will be satisfied than ever. When the staff discovers that their good hard work is changing the service receiver and the company they will do extra organizational work.

Information sources:

Employee and the service receiver should have open and free access to the data so that they can know about the problems and find a suitable solvency. All the weakness and strength can then become a clear picture in the mind of the staff and receivers. This will make them as the part of the organization and everyone can feel their duty to this organization. This will encourage them to participate and work independently. (Buchanan, Fitzgerald and Ketley, 2007)

To maximize the independence and participation there should be empowerment of needs based on social, physical and emotional, intellectual factors, information access, confidentiality measurement, taking part in the decision making.

• Providing them the right: They can keep their secrets, safety and security.
• Letting them to take risk: This can only be done after the risk assessment. If the risk is greater than the expectation then that can be barred.
• Giving them the opportunities to communicate and relate to anyone they like.
• Permitting them to personalized care, responsibilities.
• Individuals must be given chance to take their own decision and make choices for them. Decision making ability must be practiced and they should have their own choice.
• Information should be available for the individuals.
• Every service receiver should have the right to take part in their own religious and cultural activities.
• Providing a range of options from which they can make choices options should be there to make a choice.
• The service receiver should be encouraged to face their own problem and solve it successfully in near future. (Improvement and Development Agency, 2010)

2.3 Analyze the tensions that arise when balancing the rights of individual to independence and choice against the care provider’s duty to protect.

Many issues can raise the tensions while providing the service to vulnerable person. For example patients of dementia or frail intend to go some places by themselves. Service provider then put in some trouble. Dementia patients may loss their path and can’t return to the expected place. So they can harm themselves at that position and their aggressive behaviour makes it more difficult to retrieve them. Frail patients may loss their conscious easily and cause danger for themselves. When the patients are in that type trouble the service provider is accused of negelency. So the service provider should prevent the patient from doing anything that can bring danger. In that very time the individual has his humanitarian right to live independently. So this create the tensions between the relatives vs. customer, customer vs. staff, staff vs. employee, kid vs. parents, parents of the kid vs. service provider and employee vs. Employee. So tensions can bear at the place where the right and choice are conflicting over balance. The care provider should be keeping in mind that the client’s security is first than his independence. (Kizer, 2001)

3.1 Use a case study from a health or social care setting to identify the extent to which individuals are at risk of harm.

We assume a scenario that Mr. S had harassed eight elder citizens in health care organizations. His customers have faced a life threat for this abuse. Now the risk of harm for this abuse is stated below:

In the scenario a 78 years old lady pours cold water on her head. Researches shows that cold water shower is good for normal aged people’s health but it can injurious to the older people. Cold water in shower for the older persons can lead to heart attack, choking and even death. Paralysis is also a byproduct if he or she survives death.

If there is some sexual harassment then there is the issue of shame. The lady must feel guilty and sorry that can push her to the suicide. The physical and mental stability can be hampered for this incident.

No service provider can use force to make someone or the client to do something. He or she can only be asked or requested to do that. A 96 year old was forced to eat her food when she was not interested in eating. Mr. S also forced 81 years old to take sherry and that can lead to serious choke and the dying. This force implementation can cause vomiting and loss of appetite.

Mr. S‘s clients were the patient of dementia and other psychological problem so most of memories can be vanished and they may take their experience as the treatment. So that is a physical and mental abuse. For the clients who are on wheel chair can’t make them safe or move quickly to a safer place. Not only their appropriate care was neglected but also they have experienced some hateful and regretful treats.

3.2 Analyze the effectiveness of policies, procedures and managerial approach within a health or social care setting for promoting the management of risks.

Organizations have their policies, procedures to run their ventures effectively and to complete their objectives along with the governmental policy and laws. For example every health care centre has some law and rules according to the expected and unexpected risks, safeguarding from the unexpected risk, measuring and recording risk, take part in the abuse free working environment, procedures of gathering feedback, leadership pattern, policy about whistle blowing according with the sector skills standards. Management risks can be prevented by the assessment of risks, pattern of leadership and complain processes. A health care should have enough equipment to treat the patients. Early discovering of possible harassment, picturing the staff, complain with proper process, getting evaluation from the clients, monitoring the client’s financial, physical and psychological issues are also steps to avoid management risks. (Addicott, 2011)

4.1 Review current legislation, codes of practice and policy that apply to the handling of medication.

There are some law, rules and regulations to handle medicine. The laws are Public Health Regulations 2002, Drug Misuse act 1986, Medicine Act 1968, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods regulations 2008, Drug Act 2005, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 2002.

According to the upcoming only a certified individual can handle the management of medicines to ensure the quality of care in the care institutions. It provides safety for the admin of medication with the personal care staff and in the organization.

Doctors, pharmacists, surgeons, suppliers and nurses are capable of handling the medicine within a legal framework which is possible for the Medicines Act 1968. According to this law some medicines are cramped to sale, provide and handle. A licensed drug handler can only prescribe a medicine. This license has to be renewed after a certain year.

Misuse of drug act 1986 and Drug act 2005 are the strong law to restrict the handling and misusing of drug. A supplier has to prove that the medicine has an honest and valid intention to supply drugs. Supplier can be assumed by court if he has more drugs than he have licensed for.

Safe handling of the drugs is assured by the legislations, guidance and policies. (Christensen and Silvestre, 2010)

4.2 Evaluate the effectiveness of policies and procedures within a health and social care setting for administrating medication.

The policies and procedures can help to achieve the best result for administrative drugs and care institutions. Care home are run by the policies and procedures and that can lessen the threat of medication. There is a record for all the medication to avoid the risks in future and this is done by the policy of the medicine administration. Side effects of the drugs are evaluated on the internet and the third party comments are regarded as most fair evaluation.

Medication that are ordered must have some key features and that are

• Clear mentioned name
• Dose
• Time when the drug to be administrated
• Pattern of the administration.
• Reason behind the medication

For these features all medicines are taken at the appropriate time. Nurses are responsible for any misuse of the medicine or any type negligence about the medicine. Hospitals use secret coded language for the prescription which can only be understood by the medical professionals. This is time saving and the care service has gained speed. Care homes are now having the implementation of medicinal administration which decreases the overall death less than 7000. Every care providing personnel have the guideline about accurate timing of dosage, medication, patient, route. The medical administration has the only goal and that is the best result and service for service receivers. (Christensen, Bohmer and Kenagy, 2000)