Unit 7

Table of Contents

Unit 7: Assignment 1: Equality & Diversity in Health & Social CareIntroduction:I work at a care home in North London, it’s called Brookside Residence.I am writing a report that supports newly appointed staff in understanding discriminatory and non-discriminatory practice, this is an induction programme for new care assistants.In this report I am required to:Provide a description in from both non-discriminatory & discriminatory types to show and share my understanding and knowledge and to aid staff.Describe two bits of legislation and two codes of practice that promotes non-discriminatory practice in Health & Social Care and explain it also by giving two examples.Provide an assessment of the impact of discriminatory practice for Health & Social Care workers.1. Non-Discriminatory practice is the protection of individual’s age, colour, culture, disability, ethnic, gender, medical condition, nationality, appearance, race, religion, sexual identity, sexual orientation, or social class.Discriminatory practice is discriminating against an individual’s age, colour, culture, disability, ethnic, gender, medical condition, nationality, appearance, race, religion, sexual identity, sexual orientation, or social class.There are 4 different kinds of discrimination from which anyone with one or more of the protected characteristics is safeguarded:1. Unfair discrimination: This is when a person is treated unfairly compared with someone else. For example?Refusing to provide you with a service: A private residential care home refuses to accept you as a client because you’re gay. This would be discrimination because of sexual orientation.Stop providing you with a service: Your local meals on wheels service stops providing you with a meals service when they find out your partner is transsexual. They’re still providing meals to other people in your area.  This would be discrimination against you because of your partner’s gender reassignment. 2. Direct discrimination: This is when someone is rude, hostile or offensive to someone because they see them as being different. When someone is treated differently and worse than someone else for certain reasons. For example?Racial segregation: A youth club has different opening times for the local Asian and black communities. This is a deliberate policy by the youth club to avoid any trouble between the two communities. This is racial segregation and is unlawful discrimination.Perception: You’re heterosexual. A Nursery Assistant refuses to let you in to view a Nursery for your child because he thinks you’re gay. This is direct discrimination by perception because of sexual orientation which is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act. 3. Indirect discrimination: This is when there’s a practice, policy or rule which applies to everyone in the same way, but it has a worse effect on some people than others. For example? Protected characteristics (Race): A health club only accepts customers who are on the electoral register. This applies to all customers in the same way. But Gypsies and Travellers are less likely to be on the electoral register and therefore they’ll find it more difficult to join. The rule seems fair, but it has a worse effect on this particular group of people.Protected characteristic (Gender): There’s a clause in your contract which says you may have to travel around the UK at short notice. It’s difficult for you to do this because you’re a woman with young children. This clause therefore places you at a particular disadvantage. It also places women generally at a disadvantage, as they’re more likely to be the carers of children.4. Positive discrimination: This is when a decision is made in a person’s favour because there is something different about them. For example?A local college identifies from its monitoring data that males are under-represented on their Health and Social Care courses. The college makes clear in its promotional materials that applications from males are welcome and holds an open day for potential male applicants at which they can meet current male Health and Social Care students. However, the college must not guarantee that all males will get through the application process, regardless of their suitability.A housing advice service has no Muslim employees, even though it is located in an area where there is a high Muslim population. When a vacancy arises, there are two candidates of equal merit. One candidate is Muslim and the other is not. The advice service could choose to offer the job to the Muslim candidate as an act of positive discrimination.Examples of non-discriminatory practice are giving more than enough time in hospital and offering appropriate care,Examples of discriminatory practice are:1. Refusal of medical treatment: Refusing an individual medical treatment when another individual is given the same treatment is an example of discriminatory practice. 2. Giving less time than is needed: If a service provider doesn’t like a person they are caring for, doesn’t understand their needs, or is too busy they may not give that person as much time as is needed. 3. Offering inappropriate treatment or care: This is when a service is very busy and resources are stretched to the limit, or when a health and social care professional is not as careful as they should be, or if someone makes an assumption about a person who is behaving a certain way, this can result in inappropriate treatment or care being offered. 2. What is legislation?Legislation is a law or set of laws suggested by a government and made official by Parliament.What is a code of practice? All professional bodies and services should have a code of practice which gives guidelines to people who work in that body or service. Any code of practice advises service providers on how to behave and standards of practice, not only to promote the individual rights of the service users, but also to protect themselves from litigation and deregistration. Under the Human Rights Act (1998):Article 2 – the right to lifeE.g. this means that nobody can try to end someone’s life. It also means that individuals have the right to be protected if their life is at risk, for example it protects an individual who has been refused lifesaving treatment.Article 14 – the right not to be discriminated against.This means your human rights mustn’t be breached or protected differently because of certain things like sex, disability and race.Under the Nursing and Midwifery Council Code of Practice:1.3 Avoid making assumptions and recognise diversity and individual choice 1.4 Make sure that any treatment, assistance or care for which you are responsible is delivered without undue delay 1.5 Respect and uphold people’s human rightsExample 1 – Nursing and Midwifery Council: Prioritise PeoplePractice effectivelyPreserve SafetyPromote professionalism and TrustExample 2 – Health care Professional Council (HCPC):1. Promote and protect the interests of service users and carers2. Communicate appropriately and effectively3. Work within the limits of your knowledge and skill4. Delegate appropriately5. Respect confidentiality6. Manage Risk7. Report concerns about safety8. Be open when things go wrong9. Be honest and trustworthy10. Keep records of your work