Introduction to Duty of Care in Health and Social Care Settings

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Introduction to Duty of Care in Health and Social Care settings 1.1 Define the term Duty of Care A duty of care means that all health and social care professionals and organisations providing health and care services, must act in the best interests of the people they support. They also have to do everything in their power to keep people safe from harm and exploitation. As a care professional, you must ensure that you do not do something, or fail to do something, that causes harm to someone. You have a professional duty of care to act only within your own competence and not to take something you are not confident about. 1.2 Describe the Duty of Care which affects your own practice It is important to only carry out duties that you are competent and confident in under taking the duty and it is important that the task are in your job description and declining care work that is not. Being accountable for your own decisions and actions, following standard procedures in all aspects of work including use of resources and equipment. 2.1 Describe dilemmas that may arise between the Duty of Care and an individual’s rights. You have a duty of care for the people you support, but they also have the right to make their own decisions about actions they want to take. Sometimes there can be conflict between a person’s rights and your duty of care. Having a duty to act in someone’s interests and also needing to ensure that they are not placed in harm’s way can be very hard to balance when encouraging people to take control of their lives and to make choices and decisions about their lives. Participating in everyday life activities can involve risk. For example, crossing a road. We also have to consider mental capacity. 2.2 Explain where to get additional support and advice about how to resolve such dilemmas If you are unsure about how to respond to a dilemma between

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