Understand how duty of care contributes to safe practice Know how to address dilemmas that may arise between an individuals rights and the duty of care Know how to recognise and handle comments and complaints Know how to recognise and handle incidents errors and Duty of Care is defined simply as a legal obligation to Always act in the best interest of individuals and others Not act or fail to act in a way that results in harm Act within your competence and not take on anything you do not believe you can safely do. As a care worker you owe a duty of care to the people you support your colleagues your employer yourself and the public interest. Everyone has a duty of care – it is not something that you can opt out of.
I have to act in the person’s best interest but instead of encouraging them to avoid risks I have to support them and enable them to taking part in activities. I have to act in the individuals best interest, keep them safe, carry out risk assessments, promote informed choices but also respect their decision and right to live their life as they choose. If the risk seems great to me I would document it and discuss the matter with my manager. Another area where duty of care dilemmas may arise are confidentiality issues. When a confidential information is shared with me and it concerns safeguarding and there is a possibility of harm or someone’s wellbeing is threathened I might have to make a decision and disclose this information.
They also have to do everything in their power to keep the service users safe from harm. 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, exercising your duty of care is also a legal requirement and what would be tested in court in the event of a case of negligence or malpractice. Aii) How the duty of care affects the work of a social care worker. Service users have a right to expect that when a professional is providing support they will be kept safe and not to be neglected or exposed to any unnecessary risk. The expression is that we ‘owe’ a duty of care to the service users we work with.
206 Task B Handout It is a legal requirement to follow agreed ways of working. Policies and procedures or "agreed ways of working" set out how we your employer require you to work. They incorporate various pieces of legislation as well as best practice. They are there to benefit and protect you, the individuals you support and us your employer. They enable you to provide a good quality service working within the legal framework and most importantly aim to keep you and the individuals you support, safe from danger or harm.
An outline of what is meant by ‘agreed ways of working’. The term ‘agreed ways of working’ relates to the way an employee must work and the rules that they must adhere to. As an employee you should work in a way that is clearly set out in the job description – this will then mean that you know what areas of care you would be responsible for and those that should be reported to a higher member of staff etc. Bii) Limits of role There are limits of this role as this has to ensure safety of clients as well as members of staff. The job description outlines the limits and if this is not exceeded, this may result in dismissal or disciplinary action.
McLeod also suggests that counselling skills can be used in a range of self help groups such as sliming groups or Alcohics Anonymous or in life coaching – although this focuses on the promotion of positive effectiveness or achievement. Users of counselling skills often have dual responsibilities both to the recipient of their skills and the organisation that they are operating within. (Stokes in Aldridge and Rigby). This can be a cause of conflict. Counsellors can avoid this conflict by starting the counselling relationship with a contract that ensures confidentiality and helps create a safe environment that supports a client by setting down guidelines for a working/ professional relationship that includes boundaries, conduct, timekeeping.
Question 1:What is meant by the term ‘duty of care’? How does it contribute to the safeguarding and protection of your service users? | | | | | | Duty of care means providing care and support for individuals within the law and also | | | within the policies, procedure and agreed ways of working of my employer. It | | | contributes to the safeguarding and protection of service users as it is my duty of care | | | to raise any concerns I may have about any aspect of my work such as poor working | | | conditions and poor practice by staff, and to safeguard individuals from harm such as | | | abuse. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 204-1.2, 304 – 1.2 | | Question 2:Explain what it means to have ‘duty of care’ in your job role.
They have the right to have the choice to do this and you must respect it but you also have the duty to keep them safe. Explain where to get additional support and advice about how to resolve suck dilemmas. you would get more support from your manager, family member of the service user, another member of staff, a doctor, social worker or the safeguarding team. Outcome 3 Describe how to respond to complaints. i would follow respond to a complaint effectively and be proffesional, if the complaint was something i could deal with personally we could deal with it there and then, but if not then i would inform my manager or senior member of staff about the situation.
They also have a moral and ethical duty not to cause, or fail to prevent, physical or psychological injury, and must fulfil their responsibilities with regard to personal injury and negligence claims. ( ACAS Definition- Duty of Care from an employer’s perspective) In my role, I act with a duty of care to the service user, ensuring that provision of care and support is conducted in a way that ensures safety from harm. It is not only the care establishment that needs to prioritise the safety, welfare and interests of the people using its services but also the care workers of the establishment. How this affects your work role? The duty of care I have in my job is to keep myself safe and my service user safe.
Legal & Ethical Responsibilities of an assessor As trainers, we must join with our employer to uphold a number of legal requirements. It is not only the law that says that we should do these things, but by doing them we can be sure that the service we provide to our clients will be better. The following table gives an overview of the main legal and ethical responsibilities of RTOs and trainers. After the table, we will have a look in more detail at the OHS and Workplace Relations requirements of RTOs. |Legal and Ethical Responsibilities of RTOs and Trainers | | Responsibility | Description | |Occupational Health & Safety |There are laws that require us and our managers to make sure that we provide a safe | | |work environment for staff and clients, and to make sure that we have a system in place| | |to record and report any workplace injuries.