unit 7 C&D

Table of Contents

P6&M3The Health and Safety at Work act 1974 (HASAWA) has a wide range of duties for employers and employees to abide by. Managers must protect the health, safety and welfare of individuals who are on the premises, including: temporary staff, work men such as plumbers or electricians and the public. HASAWA (1974) is important in relation to the case study because it’s important that there is enough fully trained staff and that the ratio of staff to service users is good as they are vulnerable and may need specialist attention HASAWA also covers documenting reports as they cover risk assessments to ensure your work place is safe enough for you to work in. In this case the staff didn’t supported Sally’s family as they should’ve had guidance to complain about the care their daughter receives . Not doing this means that there’s no evidence of this ever occurring. Breaching the act means that you can be prosecuted and if your found guilty can be imprisoned. It’s important that individuals follow the law, so service users are kept safe and receive a good standard of care, if the service users don’t receive good care they may complain, or their health could deteriorate. The ratio of staff to patients may be low meaning that all needs aren’t met which could affect the health and wellbeing of the service users but also cause extra strain on the workers as their responsibility has increased. The staff could forget to administer medication, attend to the patient’s personal hygiene which could cause infections for the service user, more importantly the staff may become exhausted which affects their physical and mental health. This may lead to staff calling in sick and the ratio of staff to patients becoming even lower having an adverse effect on everyone.(Gov 2019) stated that COSHH is the control of substances hazardous to health. This legislation has a positive impact on health and social environments as it prevents the misuse of medication as it’s stored and disposed of properly as this legislation applies in all settings under the government. Health and safety executive (HSE 2019) stated that employers must ensure that employees follow the control measures. Employers will observe employees’ actions when they are working to see if they are trying to minimise the risks. It’s vital that the workers maintain the procedure and not go against it as it’s important that everyone is kept safe. These laws influence practice as it implies that staff are more observant in the care they give, COSHH means that staff in the health and social sector record medication what’s administered and store the medication correctly. COSHH works well alongside the Health and Safety at work Act as it prevents exposure to medication and ensures needles and bed sheets … are disposed properly, which minimises the changes of chemical reactions. In Sally’s case the COSHH regulations wasn’t followed effectively which resulted in her having a seizure as the medication was monitored properly or recorded. It’s important that employees follow the law as it could stop a chemical or allergic reaction happening or even worse, death. It’s important that employers send the staff on relevant training to help them understand the potential risks associated with chemical and hazardous substances and how to prevent them from happening and what to do if they do occur.P7& M4 Hillhouse nursing homes 2014 stated that the medication policy is ensuring that medication is recorded accurate and anyone prescribing the medication handles it safely. The policy also reviews the medication, order medication and ensures that its administered correctly in the safest way possible. Employers responsibilities are to make sure that their staff have had specialist training which is required to access the medication unit where its stored, they also must check the records to see if there any anomalies. Also, the employees are required to give out the right dosage and record what medication has been administered on a special log. This policy ensures health and safety towards service users because it stops medication being over or under prescribed. In Sally’s situation she did not receive her medication due to it not being recorded. If this was recorded and the staff had of checked the log book, Sally wouldn’t have suffered a seizure, however it wasn’t recorded which suggested that she hadn’t been given her medication by a member of staff. The care the service user receives because of a lack of communication is poor as it puts them in further danger. It’s vital the procedures are followed as it may be a life or death situation, in sally’s scenario she had a seizure meaning her brain was being starved of oxygen which could have potentially killed her therefore its vital the procedures are carried out correctly because it can affect service users tremendously. In health and social care settings, the mediation policy is effective to helping maintain health and safety as it prevents the miss use of drugs and keeps the service users assigned to their own prescriptions. Without the policy individuals may go without their medication, resulting in further health issues, or even worse death as the service user may be allergic to the drug which could potentially cause an allergic reaction. The reporting and record keeping procedure is to allow service users their families and staff to have a voice and vocalise their opinion as they can raise awareness when necessary. It’s important that the employer investigates any concerns raised such as rude staff, inadequate care … it doesn’t matter whether the problem is big or small as it could potentially be evidence if the problem was to occur again or if the situation must go to court. It’s important that employees take the complaints seriously and not to discuss the scenario with any member of staff or patient as it could create greater problems such as conflict, embarrassment or it could cause someone physical or mental problems. It’s going against the Data Protection Act 2018 as its disclosing someone else’s personal information. The procedure maintains health and safety because it allows problems to be dealt with rather than escalating, it also gives the service user a peace of mind that it’s been dealt with and hopefully won’t happen again. This stops any danger arising soon. In Sally’s scenario, her mother’s complaint was never filed and looked at meaning that all the other patients at the day centre was at risk of them being mistreated as nothing was changed or nobody was sanctioned meaning they are at a high risk of the same thing happening to them. In Sally’s position it had an impact on her care being received as it led to her having a seizure as simple rules weren’t carried out. This means She didn’t receive the best care that should have been offered whilst she was in the care of someone else in the health care sector. It’s vital the complaints policy is followed and dealt with correctly as it allows mistakes to minimise and stop complaints about poor care being provided within health and social care. The RIDDOR legislation is effective as it allows staff to be trained in certain areas, so their overall care is excellent when working with patients. If RIDDOR wasn’t in place it would allow staff to get away with treating people badly and being able to get away with it, with no questioning. Reporting incidents and occurrences are a way of proving evidence when care doesn’t meet the standard.P8&M4Responsibilities of employers is to undergo a risk assessment; this will highlight any potential hazards which could cause people harm. This will be effective to put a plan in place because it will prevent incidents from happening. This will adhere to the health and safety at work act. The risk assessment aims to reduce the risk of harm. The assessment will contribute to safe practice because it will allow health and social care staff such as nurses to improve their functional skills and be competent, this is due to them feeling safer in the environment. A disadvantage of risk assessments is the financial cost as theirs a budget and there isn’t always money to have a thorough assessment. The government have cut certain training services funding meaning that the cost has an impact on how safe an environment is. The reasons why funding gets cut is because of the ageing population, more people are living beyond the expected living age, meaning it’s the older generation. Older individuals are more susceptible to ill health and disease implying they rely on healthcare funds to help them recover, which comes out the ‘public purse’ (taxes). It’s effecting the standard of care what’s being received because there’s a shortage of staff, old equipment which is having an impact on service users as they aren’t having a personal centred approach. This may have affected Sally’s centre as the staff could’ve been reviewed to see if there were enough employees to the patients, so if a case was to arise it could’ve been dealt with effectively, however Sally wasn’t administered her mediation due to poor staff levels, this could have been prevented if there was enough people to offer the right amount of care which was essential, this would’ve been picked upon the risk assessment if it was done correctly.Another responsibility is to offer the right equipment and training. The legislation that protects this responsibility is COSHH as it allows employers to provide their employees with the correct equipment such as gloves, aprons and goggles, this allows them to prevent the spread of germs. The procedure that is alongside COSHH is the medication policy as it protects service users from being given incorrect dosages and helps log medication. This knowledge is reciprocated from staff training as nurses are to keep their knowledge and skills up to date ensuring they use evidence-based practice (NMC 2008). The staff training allows them to contribute to safe practice as their knowledge will be broadened and will find it easier to make decisions on what they think is right or wrong. Difficulties with equipment and training is its cost effective and can’t always be funded devoting that some employees go without up to date knowledge and how to improve their care skills. In sally’s scenario her needs weren’t met as she had an epileptic fit which could’ve been prevented if there was enough trained staff to administer her medication properly, in this situation the Medicine Act 1968 wasn’t adhered to. The lack of training and awareness in the centre meant the service users and their families was affected because sally wasn’t safeguarded as she had a seizure in front of all her peers and none of them was removed from the room. Also, there might have been a lack of resources within the centre as they must have had a log book or a medication form which would’ve been filled out so that the staff knew who needed what medication and who need to receive it. Consequently, all the service users had disabilities meaning that it could’ve been disturbing for them which may have affected them emotionally as it was a scary moment for them. Sally’s parents wanted to report the incident as they felt it had to be made aware in case it was to occur again with another service user. This would have protected the health and safety of sally as her medication would have been administered correctly, meaning that her seizure may have not occurred.  Advantages of emergency procedures is can keep the individual at risk from harm, depending on the scenario the two emergency procedures that can arise is first aid or the fire safety evacuation. A positive effect of first aid is it can prevent serious injuries such as oxygen starvation, being trained in first aid means that you can help people recover quicker as its immediate attention. It promotes safer practice in the work place amongst the employees. A disadvantage of first aid training is everyone isn’t trained to do it meaning that there’s some pressure on certain individuals as they must be alert to incidents and accidents. An advantage of the fire policy is; it allows staff and service users to be made aware of what to do in the event of a fire which will keep them safe from harm as their will be posters and highlighted fire exists around the building so everyone will be aware. A disadvantage of the fire policy in sally’s centre is they may not be able to read or understand the policy/procedure due to them having disabilities, this will put extra stress on the staff at the centre as they will have more people to care for if a fire was to take place.  Children and elderly service users are more vulnerable to accidents and certain illnesses therefore the staff should’ve known what to do when sally was having a seizure. They should’ve known the steps to follow such as turn sally on her side, keep her relaxed, time how long she was in a seizure, contact emergency line and her parents or guardian. Although a disadvantage of the people involved is some of them may not be confident to carry out the emergency procedure as they may have felt panicked by the situation. When emergency situations arise, they must file and report the incident so it can be used as evidence in case the individual decides to take it to court.  D3In 2012, winterbourne residents were neglected or ill treatment (guardian 2012). The individuals have learning difficulties, which meant they would have been vulnerable. They were degraded for having a disability meaning that they were being discriminated against due to a characteristic, treating someone bad due to their characteristics is breaching the Equality act 2010 and is a criminal offence which can lead to imprisonment. The whistleblowing policy was not effective as no staff members reported the incident meaning that the family had to ask for an investigation as nobody was getting answers. Whistleblowing is when you report certain types of wrongdoings which you witness in your work place which you think is a cause of concern (GOV 2019). However, in this residential home, no staff reported any incidents suggesting they didn’t follow policies put in place to help protect staff and service users meaning whistleblowing failed.To ensure safe practice all staff members working with vulnerable service users must have a disclosure and barring service (DBS) check, this prevents criminals or potentially dangerous people associating with individuals who have additional needs, regardless if they are short or long term. A DBS check will rule out any individuals who aren’t suitable for the role. GOV 2019 stated ‘’ The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions on more than four million people every year.’’ This will allow people to feel more safer when receiving personal care. Also, to ensure safe practice all health and social employers will give thorough training to ensure that they are knowledgeable and give out the most effective care possible. This will make staff competent in the care they give, by doing training in all areas it will help them recognise any signs of abuse and neglection, and how to raise it. Legislations should be followed as they help protect the welfare of service users, staff and visitors. RIDDOR – Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 wasn’t maintained at winterbourne leading to the service users being abused. Nobody reported the incidents meaning that there weren’t any consequences. Furthermore, in Sally’s scenario, RIDDOR wasn’t addressed correctly because no staff filed a form regarding Sally’s seizure meaning that there wouldn’t be a potential outcome as the staff never supported her mother to file a report. Not following legislations and policies means that the level of care being received would be inadequate as there’s no guidelines or boundaries, implying there’s no consequences. usually in these scenarios the professional bodies would be alerted and the care quality commission (CQC) would make an unexpected visit to view the centre.D4 Having a fire evacuation procedure is beneficial in promoting the health and safety and welfare of service users because Fire drills are an important part of your fire safety procedures for many reasons. Not only do they ensure that all staff, customers and visitors to your premises understand what they need to do if there is a fire, but they also help you to test how effective your fire evacuation plan is and to improve certain aspects of your fire provisions (firelinics). It’s important to ensure settings are safe environments for service users. The Queen Elizabeth hospital done this affectively in September 2018 as an iodine tablet was dropped on the floor by a cancer patient, releasing radiation throughout the hospital. To be certain that everyone was safe and not harmed the hospital shut down any wards/corridors/rooms that may have a trace of the radiation in , they also checked over 150 people who has been at the hospital to make sure they wasn’t hurt and then followed on to send out 500 letters informing everyone to keep people safe( Birmingham Live 2018). The advantages of a safe environment are, it allows people to feel safe from any potential danger making them less anxious. Allows them to have the quality care that’s essential for them. Consequently, the disadvantages of a safe environment are the cost. It’s expensive to have loads of staff, CCTV, latest equipment and technology. This makes it more difficult to maintain a safe environment because there’s not enough money as the government are struggling to finance money to keep everywhere safe. Money cuts is partially due to the enlarging population. Recommendations in the case study to make it a safer practice is to continue professional development and have further training to make them more aware on how to keep people safe and make them more competent in the care they give. Also, in Sally’s training centre she needs more staff to care for the other individuals as there’s a lack of staff working at the place which is putting extra stress on the other staff who are working.Health and safety executive (hse), what is COSHH? www.hse.gov.uk 10/03/19Up essays, professional, legal and ethical issues (2017), www.ukessays.com 06/02/19Work smart (2019), what is the health and safety at work out? www.worksmart.org.uk/health-advice 24/01/19Nursing and midwifery council NMC 2017, www.NMC.org.uk 06/02/19 Hillhouse nursing home UK, Management of medication policy www.hillhouse-nursinghome.co.uk 13/03/19 GOV UK, Data Protection, www.gov.co.uk/data-protection 10/03/19Birmingham live , ttps://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/queen-elizabeth-radiation-alert-birmingham-15296865 12/03/19