Unit 3 Principle of HSC Sample Assignment

Introduction

Health and social care services are one of the important services, which support the health care and social care related requirement of the society. With increasing challenges and complexities in kind of problems people are facing, Unit 3 Principle of HSC Sample Assignment becomes important for a health or social care worker to have clear understanding of the principles related to this sector. With several new health and social issues originating from time to time, it has become critical to ensure that relevant procedures should be implemented in order to tackle the specific as well as generic health care requests by patients (Clarke et al, 2000). Purpose of this report/essay is to have analyse various aspects related to health and social care, and based on relevant case studies come to a conclusion, that how theoretical principles of health case can be applied in practical scenarios to improve the services and other aspects related to the sector.

Part 1 Assignment

Task 1

Q1. In order to ensure that Bob is cared for in the residential care home, explain how principles of support are applicable to this care

From the case study of Bob, it can be assumed that Bob has special health care needs considering the fact that he has displayed attitude for hurting himself. For a health care worker it is essential to know that improper handling of Bob’s case can further complex his medical situation. That is why it is essential that health care worker should focus on re-building his self-esteem, this can be achieved by motivating him to do small activities and tasks from day to day basis, and once he completes these tasks, he should be rewarded with verbal complements and appreciation for his efforts. Such gestures from the health care professional will help in boosting self-respect of Bob, and he will get encouraged towards putting more efforts to complete other activities. Health professional or worker should also engage in occasional conversation with him, and in a situation he finds it difficult to communicate verbally, then sign language should be used for communication. Nursing activities should also focus on strengthening him, by motivating and helping him to do his daily chores such as wearing clothes, taking bath, taking him for his daily physiotherapy exercises. Overall effectiveness of unit-3-principle-hsc-sample-assignment approach can be measured by the way, he will become independent in doing his day-to-day activities, after a periodic assessment of his situation.

Q2. Analyse the benefits of using a person centred approach for Bob

For a patient like Bob, who is suffering from critical health issue such as stroke, it can be said that person centric approach is the best suitable approach for his treatment. Person centred approach will require complete involvement of a health care worker with dedicated focus on a person’s health situation and his day-to-day activities. In case of Bob, person cantered approach will ensure that there is dedicated focus not just towards care of Bob, but also towards rebuilding his self-confidence and self-respect, since his ailment might have impact on his self-esteem. Due to his ailment, it might happen that Bob might lose his confidence as he might not be able to perform even basic tasks, which in turn might impact his confidence. Person centred approach provided by health care professionals such as nurses and caretakers will enable patients like Bob to develop and gain some personal strength and self-belief in them, and improve overall thinking. The main benefit of person centred approach is that it gives a belief to patient that the person taking care of him/her has faith in his capability to become fit again due to which the patient also strives to give his best possible effort to recover (Davies et al, 2000). Person centred approach for Bob, will eventually make him independent and self-reliant in nature and will further reduce his attitude to hurt himself, mainly due to the positive and appreciative environment which will be created around him due to the approach.

Q3. What will be your role, responsibilities, accountabilities and duties in relation to Bob’s circumstance within and outside the care home

Following are the list of roles, responsibilities, accountabilities and duties in relation to Bob circumstance within and outside the care home:

• Firstly, it will be important to help Bob in taking care of his day-to-day activities and supporting him whenever needed.
• Secondly, it will be required to help in getting back on his own feet, whenever he desires to get out of bed and then assisting him back.
• Thirdly support him, towards getting ready for the day and taking his inputs in completion of his tasks.
• Fourthly assist him in learning various activities which he can perform, and provide assistance whenever required.
• Fifthly one major responsibility will be related to keeping a close track of all the medicines prescribed to him, and its timely administration, also it will be critical to closely observe any possible change in his behaviour, so that accordingly his case can be studied and further course of treatment can be customised.
• Health care should have one important responsibility of taking accountability towards all the physical exercises Bob has to do. In a situation he misses his prescribed exercises health care worker should be accountable.
• Lastly, it is essential that the health care worker should initially support Bob in all his daily chores such as bath, food, walk etc. However, it is equally important to let him do some of the activities independently as his situation improves.

Q4. Outline the procedure for protecting clients, patients and colleagues from harm and evaluate the effectiveness of interpersonal working

In health and social care, medication of the patient is one of the most important indicators for progress in the health of patient. If there is lapse in the administration of the medicine as per the time set by the doctor then it is a big mistake from the care giver. In order to ensure that medication is administered without any lapse and correctly, it is essential to maintain a record of each patient containing his medical history and overall treatment history along with complete medication details. In the case study of Arthur, it can be observed and analysed that when Arthur left early, in such case it is completely his responsibility to ensure that all the medications related responsibility on him is completed or not. If not, or if anything is missing, then he should have immediately fulfilled the process. In health and social care sector, interpersonal working is very important. Interpersonal working focuses on close coordination between all the health care professionals such as caretakers, nurse etc. especially when shift change takes place. By better coordination, and issue related to administration of medicine or performing some routine task for the patient will not be missed. Through use of software applications also interpersonal working can be achieved. Today, software for maintain common records of the patients can be accessed by all the health care professionals,  hence in case of Arthur, he can request his co-worker to check patient’s record in order to ensure that no medication is missed for the patient.

Task 2

Q5. Explain your understanding of ethical dilemmas/conflict that has risen in providing care and supporting Mrs. Helen

As per the case study of Mrs Helen, it is mentioned that she is a believer of Jehovah Witness, which in fact can be considered as a part of Christianity. Considering the fact that she suffered a car accident and displayed symptoms of internal bleeding, her situation was definitely was critical when she was admitted and referred to the emergency department of the hospital.  In order to improve her condition, doctors offered blood transfusion for her, which she refused citing her religious alignment due to which it was against her religion to accept blood transfusion.

It can be said that such situations are clear representation of ethical dilemmas, because one hand the patient in the case study refused to take blood transfusion despite of her critical health condition, on other hand doctor are morally responsible for giving their best effort to save life of a patient. In case of Mrs Helen, there was another layer of complexity was as well, that she was pregnant, due to which her refusal to blood transfusion not only endangered her own life but of her foetus as well.

In the case study mentioned there was also conflict of interest, in which doctors wanted to save life of Mrs Helen and her foetus, whereas Mrs Helen was more concerned about adherence to her religious beliefs, also blood transfusion was one of the process which was strictly against her religious practises that in no condition, even if the patient is in situation of life or death such process should be accepted. However, for a medical practitioner such as a doctor, his interest is only towards saving the life of patient irrespective of his religious beliefs or any other thing which might act like a hindrance in patient’s treatment. Due to Helen’s insistence on following her religious beliefs, there was a serious conflict of interest between her preferences and doctor’s responsibilities. For Mrs Helen it was important to understand the seriousness of the situation since she was on verge of not only losing her life but also of her foetus which was inside her. In such situation doctors or any other medical practitioner should discuss all the options clearly with the patient and should motivate them to behave and think rationally. In fact, it is also important for the doctors to consult other immediate family members with all the options and their consequences on patient’s care. Basically, from doctor’s perspective, they should put forward the complete picture without hiding any fact such as potential situation of death if the patient refuses to adhere to the treatment recommended. In a situation like that of Mrs Helen doctors should also try to see if there is any alternative plan to treat her. If not, then doctors should have clearly highlighted the risk of potential death of the patient to the patient as well as her family members, this might have intimidated patient’s religious beliefs and should have motivated her towards being practical about her situation and accept the treatment being recommended by the doctors. Hence, from doctor’s part the condition of ethical dilemma and conflict interest is only till the level where they put their best effort to convince patient like Mrs Helen and let them know about all the possible outcomes. Decision making in such situation might be completely dependent on the situation. For example, doctors can also forcefully, administer patient with the recommended treatment since there is nothing more important than saving life of a patient. Later on, doctors can put their case forward for their recommended action, and the issue related to ethical dilemma. 

Part 2 Assignment

Task 3

Q6. Explain how you have implemented policies, legislation, regulations and codes of practice in significance to your own work in health and social care

In health and social care sector policies, regulations and code of practises are like pillars of support which give a level of legality and formality to all the practises being followed.  Based on my experience and observation, following are various practises, code of conducts and legislative conducts which I have applied:

• First important policy as per Department of Health’s policy guideline (2013) was, related to taking care of the patients or clients in need of health care service, and being accountable for all the actions and omissions during the course of health care.
• Second important regulation was related to protection of dignity, health and wellbeing of the patients/people/clients in need of health and social care services, especially in a situation where they have never used such services.
• Thirdly, showing respect towards the patients/client’s rights and maintenance of their right of confidentiality (Department of Health, 2013).
• Focus on following and maintaining quality, inclusion and diversity during the process of recruiting health care workers.
• Another important regulation was related to, no acceptance of any sort of favours such as gifts, hospitality, offers etc. from clients who used my services.
• In a situation of emergency or a situation which was not possible for me to handle, then in such situation I followed the code of conduct related to communicating and seeking help from the supervisor.
• Giving equal amount of attention to each and every patient being administered by me, without doing any sort of differentiation among them.
• Another important guideline I followed and implemented was related to clear communication process, in most transparent and trustworthy way to the patient about his treatment/progress etc. or any information related to co-worker or other staff.
• One of the most important policies which I followed was ensuring that, no patient is subjected to any sort of abuse, neglect or bad treatment (Department of Health, 2013).  
• Lastly, I also focused on following a person centred approach.

Q7. Explain how local policies and procedures can be developed in accordance with national and policy requirements and evaluate the impact of these policies and procedures on organisational policy and practice.

For an individual who is a professional in health and social care sector, local policies and guidelines are like a direction or point of reference which guides them throughout their career. For experts who are involved in the policy formulation, it is important to ensure that local conditions and regulatory environment should be considered while policies at the local level are formulated. For example, policy related to treating an individual with special health condition in a specific type of ward might not be possible in a specific location, hence in such situations onus of re-directing the patient to a suitable place lies completely on the policy and its practitioners (McLaughlin, 2009). Also, it is important to understand that while formulation of local polices, experts should closely study the polices which are implemented and practised at the national level, this ensures that policy being developed at the local remains in sync with the national policy and if there is any best practise in the national policy, then such best practise can be included or imbibed at local level as well. For policy experts, it is essential to know that the policies designed at local level will have positive impact only when they are able to design these policies after considering the local conditions and the availability of the resources to implement them. Also, it is critical to analyse the after impact of the policy implementation, because these policies designed at local level will also have potential impact on the existing organisational policies being practised and other government regulations being followed. Thus, local level policies should be implemented in harmony with the existing policies and organisational practises to extract the maximum benefit out of them.

Q8. Explain the theories that accentuate health and social care practice

In order to maintain a specific level welfare of society, health and social care sector plays an important role for the government, services offered through health and social care mainly helps the government’s initiatives to reach to the masses. There are multiple theories which help in accentuating the health and social care services; one of the important theories is The Theory of Transparent Business health care Operations, which focuses on the ensuring transparency in the business operations, high quality training and development of the health care professionals (McLeod, 2014).  Person centred theory of communication; selfless thinking activity and theory of dedication beyond the original scope of work are also some of the important theories which are followed. If a professional focuses on following the person centred approach then he will be able to observe its benefits in form of faster speed of recovery of the patient/client is taking care off. Whereas following dedicated adherence to one’s own work will ensure that the designated tasks and duties are completed in time and it helps in further improvement of the work environment. For all the caretakers in health and social care, constant training and development of their existing skillset is extremely important, as it helps them to improve their quality of work and make them more employable for the organisation they are working for.

If such practise and theories are followed to perfection, then it can act like a major boost factor which will ensure that high quality services are provided to the people who need services from this sector.

Q9. Analyse how social processes such as isolation and exclusion, marginalisation impact on users of health and social care services

For a society or community, its social structure is a critical indicator of its overall progress or growth. However, despite of this fact that social structure reflects the growth or progress, there are still several countries or regions where, there is stigmatisation of any specific community. Due to such practises there is always high possibility of class divide in the society resulting into deprivation of the ignored class from taking benefits of the health and social care provided by the government (Moonie, 2000).  This aspect comes into picture, because the isolated community or class of society develops a perception of being ignored and isolated from the mainstream society. Similarly, if exclusive privileges are granted to the specific class of the society related to health and social care service, then that is also equally harmful for the society. Such situations will mainly widen up the class differences where the deprived class or community will have hatred towards the privileged class and vice-versa resulting into resentment and unrest in society. That is why it is important for government, public agencies and other organisations, that such differences should never be allowed in critical services of the society such as health and social care.

Task 4

Q10. Evaluate own contribution to the development and implementation of health and social care organisation policy

Health and social care related practises are extremely important for the society and overall health care sector, especially considering the fact that the treatment methods being used on patients creates a lot difference on their recovery. Some of the important practises which are being followed and used in health care setup are mentioned below:

• Giving attentions towards care of individuals in health care centre, and understanding unique needs of each individual, and ultimately applying best principles of communication (Santy & Smith, 2014).
• Focus towards fulfilling the individual needs and requirements, and trying to find a solution which can be applied on these individuals to make their process of treatment free of any issue or complaints.
• Ensuring active contributions and suggesting meetings while discussion of policies and ways in which they can be managed or amended effectively.
• Focus on following each and every policy laid down through the code of conduct established by the organisation providing the services, and ensuring that no conduct is missed.
• Working towards creation of an environment which is based on discipline and work ethics, and strives for improvement of service quality.
• Focus towards analysis of existing policies, and to highlight any potential loopholes in them, so that existing policies can be constantly re-defined and improved further.
• Ensuring that, despite of a specific scope of work, helping other co-workers in achieving their tasks and giving attention to each and every individual in need of health and social care services.

Q11. Make recommendations to develop on your own contributions

Based on my experience of working with a health and social care setup, following are the recommendations:

• Extra focus should be given on the training and development aspect of the centre, because training and development of health care professional impacts the quality of services given to the patient.
• Focus towards understanding the problem of the patient being handled, and to ensure that there problem or issue is understood without any confusion.
• Another important aspect is related to focus on learning new ways of communication with patient and making them understand.
• Focus should be there on quality management of the services provided to the client requiring the services.
• There should be regular feedback and assessment of existing quality of services being offered. Hence, all the professionals working at the centre should be reviewed for their performance from time to time (Willis, 2014).

Conclusion

Based on analysis the principles of health care and social care and case studies mentioned, it can be clearly concluded that there are lot of complexities involved in delivering health and social care services. For example ethical dilemma, conflict of interest etc. hence a health professional should always focus on understanding the current situation and should take decisions on the care aspect of the patient as per his condition.

Also, adherence to legal compliance and following a specific code of conduct laid down by national and local agencies is important for the health care professionals, as it will ensure that the services offered by the professionals are well monitored for its impact and quality. 

References

Clarke, L., Sachs, B., Ford-Sumner, S. and Clarke, L. (2000). Health and social care for advanced GNVQ. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes.
Davies, C., Finlay, L. and Bullman, A. (2000). Changing practice in health and social care. London: SAGE.
Department of Health, (2013). Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers. London: Skills for Care and Skills for Health.
Department of Health, (2013). National Minimum Training Standards. London: Skills for Care and Skills for Health.