Duty of Care

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Unit 13 principles for implementing duty of care in health and social care 1.1 Explain what it means to have a duty of care in own work role A duty of care is a requirement that all health and social care professionals and organisations providing health and care services, must put the interests of the people who use their services first. Your duty of care underpins, everything that you do. It is what underlies the Codes of Practice and it should be built into your practice on a day to day level. People have a right to expect that when a professional is providing support they will be kept safe and not be neglected or exposed to any unnecessary risks. Duty of care is not only about physical risks, you also have a duty of care to treat people with dignity and respect. As a care worker you must promote the independence of of service users whilst protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm. This includes: * Promoting the independence of service users and help them to understand their rights. * Following practice and procedures designed to keep you and other people safe. * Informing your employer where the practice of colleagues maybe unsafe. * Helping service users to make complaints. * Complying with employers health and safety policies. * Recognising and using responsibly the power that comes with your work with services users and carers. 1.2Explain how duty of care contributes to the safeguarding or protection of individuals Following a Code of Practice and thinking about your duty of care means that your practice will be safer because you will stop to think if you are working in the best interests of the person you are supporting and if you are keeping them from harm. Safeguarding is about keeping vulnerable adults from any sort of harm, such as illness, abuse or injury. This means taking responsibility for the safety of

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