Unit 7 Principles of Safe Practice in Health and Social Care
Safeguarding Matters 2
Wellings NHS Trust, Ward 3B
Laws are made by the government to keep people safe, it's like rules. We must obey the rules,
so we are safe. It is a crime to not follow the laws. Laws apply to everyone. Policies are made
based on the setting of the setting and must be followed by staff and visitors in the setting.
Policies are made for the staff and the visitors so when they are in the setting, they are aware of
what they can and cannot do.
In the case study Lizzy was admitted to the ward and she has constant visits from her husband,
we can infer that she was being abused by her husband because when she has a visit from her
husband her arm seems to swell up and information on this isn’t recorded. The health and
safety of this hospital is not good because their keypad is broken and they don’t have anyone to
fix it which is a hazard because we don’t know who's coming in and out of the ward which puts
the service users in risk. They mention that they have a surgical procedure which is getting the
service user ready for the surgery so they have specific procedures that they must do and keep
thoroughly clean. They also mention an emergency procedure which is what individuals would
have to do if there's a fire and individuals not knowing this.
They also allow to draw the curtains which is allowed because of the laws that state that people
can make their own decisions for example The Equality Act protects us from many things and
allows us to make decisions of our own without getting discriminated as well as the Human
Rights Act. However, when Lizzy had the same swelling in her hand twice, they should have
questioned or reported that Lizzy was being abused because it had repeated twice, documents
should have been updated on this.
The welling NHS Trust also has professionals that don’t act professionally or doing their duty of
care, for example, the nurse did not record what had happened with Lizzy or what medication
was given to the patient, which shows some procedures aren’t been followed. Which could
mean the professionals may not have the training that they need because they're not doing
their duty of care. Also, the manager of the warm Amina Patel she did the same mistake
however she did ask Lizzy questions about her arm, but she also didn’t record the information
down.
It is through these examples that we can see various laws and procedures being broken in the
set. I will be exploring these.
The different types of laws in a health care setting:
The Health and safety at Work Act
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations
, The Food Hygiene Regulations
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR)
Data Protection Act
The Equality Act
The Care Act
CQC Standards
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
The Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) keeps employers and employees safe while they're
at work. This Act gives everyone a responsibility if they follow this legal requirement it is less
likely that they will get injured in the workplace. The health and safety Act set out rules for
professionals and how they should treat their patients and towards each other. It helps ensure
the environment of the workplace is safe for the patients and the professionals. The health and
safety act also make sure that the professionals are using the correct equipment. The health
and safety at work act also gives training to the staff.
(M3) This law works well when there is a service user who has an infectious disease. The health
and safety act will ensure that there will be signs to warn visitors and employees from entering
the room. It will also make sure that when employees or visitors do enter the room that they
are aware of the risk and that they wear the correct PPE, for example, gloves, masks and
gowns. However, the law isn’t as effective in working when the professionals don’t have the
training for this law. It is important to have the training because if professionals have the
training then they would be able to identify hazards, which will make sure that they avoid any
incidents. If a professional doesn’t have this training, they won't be able to identify the hazards
and are likely to get hurt.
(D4) The strengths of the health and safety at work act is that it keeps employers safe from
getting hurt or catching infection, it also protects the employees from getting hurt. It also
reduces the amount of sick absences that people tend to take off because they hurt themselves
etc. The health and safety act also protect the health care sector from getting sued because if a
service user gets injured they tend to sue the hospital, which affects the hospital because the
hospitals don’t have enough money to help everyone and with the money that goes to them it
will be harder for the hospital to afford medication etc. The health and safety act at work also
manages the risk assessments which are good preventative ways to keep people safe. As well as
this, it makes sure everybody has their human rights as they have access to running water,
toilet and safe work spaced. The weaknesses of the health and safety at work is that some
health care setting doesn’t promote the health and safety act, for example they won't put the
wet floor sign when the floor Is wet as staff forget or don’t have time, which shows that the law
Safeguarding Matters 2
Wellings NHS Trust, Ward 3B
Laws are made by the government to keep people safe, it's like rules. We must obey the rules,
so we are safe. It is a crime to not follow the laws. Laws apply to everyone. Policies are made
based on the setting of the setting and must be followed by staff and visitors in the setting.
Policies are made for the staff and the visitors so when they are in the setting, they are aware of
what they can and cannot do.
In the case study Lizzy was admitted to the ward and she has constant visits from her husband,
we can infer that she was being abused by her husband because when she has a visit from her
husband her arm seems to swell up and information on this isn’t recorded. The health and
safety of this hospital is not good because their keypad is broken and they don’t have anyone to
fix it which is a hazard because we don’t know who's coming in and out of the ward which puts
the service users in risk. They mention that they have a surgical procedure which is getting the
service user ready for the surgery so they have specific procedures that they must do and keep
thoroughly clean. They also mention an emergency procedure which is what individuals would
have to do if there's a fire and individuals not knowing this.
They also allow to draw the curtains which is allowed because of the laws that state that people
can make their own decisions for example The Equality Act protects us from many things and
allows us to make decisions of our own without getting discriminated as well as the Human
Rights Act. However, when Lizzy had the same swelling in her hand twice, they should have
questioned or reported that Lizzy was being abused because it had repeated twice, documents
should have been updated on this.
The welling NHS Trust also has professionals that don’t act professionally or doing their duty of
care, for example, the nurse did not record what had happened with Lizzy or what medication
was given to the patient, which shows some procedures aren’t been followed. Which could
mean the professionals may not have the training that they need because they're not doing
their duty of care. Also, the manager of the warm Amina Patel she did the same mistake
however she did ask Lizzy questions about her arm, but she also didn’t record the information
down.
It is through these examples that we can see various laws and procedures being broken in the
set. I will be exploring these.
The different types of laws in a health care setting:
The Health and safety at Work Act
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations
, The Food Hygiene Regulations
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR)
Data Protection Act
The Equality Act
The Care Act
CQC Standards
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
The Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) keeps employers and employees safe while they're
at work. This Act gives everyone a responsibility if they follow this legal requirement it is less
likely that they will get injured in the workplace. The health and safety Act set out rules for
professionals and how they should treat their patients and towards each other. It helps ensure
the environment of the workplace is safe for the patients and the professionals. The health and
safety act also make sure that the professionals are using the correct equipment. The health
and safety at work act also gives training to the staff.
(M3) This law works well when there is a service user who has an infectious disease. The health
and safety act will ensure that there will be signs to warn visitors and employees from entering
the room. It will also make sure that when employees or visitors do enter the room that they
are aware of the risk and that they wear the correct PPE, for example, gloves, masks and
gowns. However, the law isn’t as effective in working when the professionals don’t have the
training for this law. It is important to have the training because if professionals have the
training then they would be able to identify hazards, which will make sure that they avoid any
incidents. If a professional doesn’t have this training, they won't be able to identify the hazards
and are likely to get hurt.
(D4) The strengths of the health and safety at work act is that it keeps employers safe from
getting hurt or catching infection, it also protects the employees from getting hurt. It also
reduces the amount of sick absences that people tend to take off because they hurt themselves
etc. The health and safety act also protect the health care sector from getting sued because if a
service user gets injured they tend to sue the hospital, which affects the hospital because the
hospitals don’t have enough money to help everyone and with the money that goes to them it
will be harder for the hospital to afford medication etc. The health and safety act at work also
manages the risk assessments which are good preventative ways to keep people safe. As well as
this, it makes sure everybody has their human rights as they have access to running water,
toilet and safe work spaced. The weaknesses of the health and safety at work is that some
health care setting doesn’t promote the health and safety act, for example they won't put the
wet floor sign when the floor Is wet as staff forget or don’t have time, which shows that the law
