duty of care

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A duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on a carer requiring that they adhere to a good quality and standard of care. It is my duty to safeguard and to take care of vulnerable adults and to ensure that their needs and well being are looked after, it is my responsibility to ensure I exercise a good standard of care with respect to individuals safety, best interest and personal choices, this includes protecting individuals within my care from any harm or abuse that may occur and avoiding any acts that could result in injury, this also means respecting service users and giving them choices. It is my duty of care to ensure that my duty is carried out safely and effectively, it is my responsibility to ensure all my training is up to date as this will enable me to recognise all signs and symptoms of abuse. I am responsible to ensure I remain competent within my job role and tasks I undertake and to inform my manager if I feel incompetent within my role. It is my role to ensure the safety of individuals within my care and also other colleges and members of the public visiting, this means maintaining a safe environment at all times ensuring all areas are free from clutter, equipment is safe, all fire exits remain clear in case of emergency’s, any concerns that I may have regarding safety or equipment I am responsible to ensure I inform my manager immediately and to inform other staff members to ensure they are aware and refrain from using any faulty equipment to protect service users, this can be done verbally and also a written out of order sign placed on the equipment. It is my duty to ensure that individual care is given to each individual in accordance with their care plans this means following all care needs of their choice within their care plan providing dignity and respect at all times by maintaining this I am protection the individual from risk and also myself from risk of allegations, its my duty to ensure care plans are up to date and relevant to the individuals care needs and that any changes to the individuals care is updated within the care plan, this could be any changes such as an individual struggling with their mobility and requires the use of an hoist I am responsible to ensure staff are made aware and that the care plan is updated for other staff members and professionals to follow, this again is protecting the individual from harm. Its my duty to report any concerns and allegations immediately to my manager and to ensure the concerns reported have been acted upon, its also my duty to ensure I maintain a high standard of conduct outside my professional role this means ensuring all information within the work place remains confidentially and is not spoken about outside of work and only to people on a need to know basis within the work place. Ensuring a high standard duty of care contributes to the safeguarding and protection of individuals as your duty of care ensures that individuals within your care are protected from harm and are kept safe from abuse.

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Sometimes individuals may want to do something which could be a risk to their health and safety. As a carer you have a duty of care to that individual and you must do all you can to keep them safe and free from harm but you also have a duty to respect the individuals rights and choices, so you have a dilemma, this could be that an individual has sustained many falls and is a high risk of falls and has been supplied with hip protectors from the falls team but the individual is fine with wearing these in the day but does not want to wear these during the night. In this scenario you have a duty to respect the individuals rights and choices but also have a duty of care to ensure the individual remains safe and free from harm. In this situation a risk assessment would need to be carried out to ensure the risk is managed as safely as possible, you must consider all aspects does the individual have the capacity to understand the risks involved. If the individual has the capacity you must ensure they are aware of the risks involved and explain you have a duty of care to ensure they remain safe, it may be that you could compromise with the individual on other options available for them, this could be placing a floor alarm in situ which will alert staff when they are up and also carrying out more frequent safety checks throughout the night, ensuring the environment is safe and free from potential hazards which could lead to harm. If an individual lacks the capacity to understand the risks involved you must ensure you act in the persons best interest. All information must be documented in the individuals personal care plan, a care plan must be completed stating the individuals choices and preferences and the risks involved and how they are to be managed this will ensure all other staff members and professional are aware of the choices made by the individual and the ways of managing the risks, you could do this with the individual if they have the capacity and also have them sign this. You must ensure you raise your concerns with the relevant people such as your manager and other staff members to ensure they are aware of the situation and the safety measures in place to manage the risk, you would also ensure other professional are made aware this could be the individuals doctor and the falls team and also the individuals family whilst ensuring you maintain your professional boundaries only giving information to the relevant people who need to know respecting the individuals confidentiality.

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There are many professional who can help support you with conflicts and dilemmas which may occur, such as your line manager who is there to support and help you with any conflicts and dilemmas your manager can give you information on the right measures to take and also work with you to resolve the situation they can also point you in the right direction of people to contact that could also help. There are charities such as age UK and the Alzheimer’s society who are there to help people with all kinds of dilemmas and conflicts they will support you in making the best decision and give you advice on the best way to resolve the situation they provide people with support and help this could be training or even advice on safety issues, there is also adult social care professions such as social workers who will help support you in the best interest of an individual they can help lead you into the right direction whilst working with you. You could also seek support from professionals such as general practitioner, family members.

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When responding to complaints made you must ensure you listen to the individual making the complaint, you must always demonstrate a willingness to understand the individuals feelings and situation and focus on the problem not personalities, you must ensure you listen carefully to what is said and be understanding towards the individual ensuring them their complaint will be taken care of, you must ensure you document the complaint and if necessary depending on the complaint gather any evidence that may help, you must ensure the individual is aware of the complaints procedure and encourage them to use it, you must ensure the individual there complaint will be passed onto the home manager and dealt with and that every effort will be made to resolve the complaint and a full response will be provided to them within 28 days. Once the complaint has been made you must acknowledge and act upon it, you must ensure you maintain your professional boundaries in and outside of your work place, ensuring the information given remains confidential and only relevant people who need to know are informed of the complaint. The manager is responsible for maintaining all records relating to a complaint, using appropriate complaints records as the basis of monitoring the progress made in resolving the complaint.