Unit 14 M2 D1 Practitioners and agencies Megan Scully
M2: Discuss how the practitioners and agencies involved in the care pathways work together to
provide the care needed for both physiological disorders.
D1: Evaluate the effectiveness of health and social care practitioners and agencies working
together to deliver the care pathway for one of the chosen physiological disorders.
Informal and formal carers can both be involved in the delivery of care pathways. Formal carers are
qualified carers who are either employed by an organisation, or more uncommonly by the individual
themselves. Formal carers with by trained and qualified and must abide by professional codes of
conduct. Informal carers, which are also referred to as family carers, are a significantly sized
collection of individuals who provide both emotional and physical support to individuals who require
it. It has been approximated that there are in excess of 6 million informal carers within the United
Kingdom, with some of those carers being children. Many informal carers work exceptionally long
hours with no compensation, saving the government billions of pounds. Informal caring can be quite
stressful on some individuals and could even affect their health, ultimately further affecting the
consistent strain on the NHS and funding for the NHS. It could also affect informal carers as the
amount of time they devote caring for someone could provide pressure on their employment, it may
require large amounts of absence from the workplace, which could affect the individual financially,
or similarly young carers may be absent from school in order to provide care for the individual
requiring it.
Children and young people being informal carers could affect the education sector, attendance of
pupils who are informal carers may plummet and it is also removing the childhood that they should
experience and forcing them to mature quicker and at a younger age. The employment sector,
informal carers who are absent often from their jobs in order to provide care may be dismissed,
heightening the number of unemployed individuals within the UK, it could also affect the
government finance sector, as individuals who lose their jobs due to caring for an individual and lead
to the requirement of government benefits, placing a strain on the government due to the high
volume of individuals within the UK who claim benefits. Another problem with informal caring is the
high volumes of stress these individuals experience, which could lead them to feel failed by the NHS
system and less likely to use the service or recommend the service in the future, it also puts an
increasing strain on the NHS specifically the mental health services as the informal carer may
experience disorders such as long term depression. Other issues with informal caring could be the
inexperience of the individual as a carer, due to lack of training which could lead to injuries sustained
through unskilled handling and lifting (e.g. falls and bruising), the informal carer may not have
contact with agencies such as district nurses and not have the appropriate funding for equipment,
this could mean that signs of patient deterioration are not identified putting the individual at risk.
This could also affect informal carers who are struggling to support dependents and are not eligible
to claim benefits and are absent from work frequently in order to provide care, this could go on to
affect the future of the informal carer as the absence from work may mean the informal carer is
unable to contribute enough insurance towards their pension meaning in the future they may
require to work longer in order to do so, this may be hard as the older the individual becomes, the
harder obtaining employment becomes. On the other hand, informal caring can provide relief and
comfort to the individual receiving the care as they will typically know and be comfortable around
the informal carer.
Informal caring is also comforting as due to the carer typically being an individual that the patient is
comfortable around, it is likely that the informal carer is genuinely interested in the health of the
patient, whereas at times this can be questionable with formal carers. With informal carers, it is also
a relief to be aware of the personal habits and past of that individual which is also questionable with
formal carers. Another advantage of informal caring is that the patient will have someone with them
in the event of emergency so help can be sought quickly, with formal carers, they may not visit every
M2: Discuss how the practitioners and agencies involved in the care pathways work together to
provide the care needed for both physiological disorders.
D1: Evaluate the effectiveness of health and social care practitioners and agencies working
together to deliver the care pathway for one of the chosen physiological disorders.
Informal and formal carers can both be involved in the delivery of care pathways. Formal carers are
qualified carers who are either employed by an organisation, or more uncommonly by the individual
themselves. Formal carers with by trained and qualified and must abide by professional codes of
conduct. Informal carers, which are also referred to as family carers, are a significantly sized
collection of individuals who provide both emotional and physical support to individuals who require
it. It has been approximated that there are in excess of 6 million informal carers within the United
Kingdom, with some of those carers being children. Many informal carers work exceptionally long
hours with no compensation, saving the government billions of pounds. Informal caring can be quite
stressful on some individuals and could even affect their health, ultimately further affecting the
consistent strain on the NHS and funding for the NHS. It could also affect informal carers as the
amount of time they devote caring for someone could provide pressure on their employment, it may
require large amounts of absence from the workplace, which could affect the individual financially,
or similarly young carers may be absent from school in order to provide care for the individual
requiring it.
Children and young people being informal carers could affect the education sector, attendance of
pupils who are informal carers may plummet and it is also removing the childhood that they should
experience and forcing them to mature quicker and at a younger age. The employment sector,
informal carers who are absent often from their jobs in order to provide care may be dismissed,
heightening the number of unemployed individuals within the UK, it could also affect the
government finance sector, as individuals who lose their jobs due to caring for an individual and lead
to the requirement of government benefits, placing a strain on the government due to the high
volume of individuals within the UK who claim benefits. Another problem with informal caring is the
high volumes of stress these individuals experience, which could lead them to feel failed by the NHS
system and less likely to use the service or recommend the service in the future, it also puts an
increasing strain on the NHS specifically the mental health services as the informal carer may
experience disorders such as long term depression. Other issues with informal caring could be the
inexperience of the individual as a carer, due to lack of training which could lead to injuries sustained
through unskilled handling and lifting (e.g. falls and bruising), the informal carer may not have
contact with agencies such as district nurses and not have the appropriate funding for equipment,
this could mean that signs of patient deterioration are not identified putting the individual at risk.
This could also affect informal carers who are struggling to support dependents and are not eligible
to claim benefits and are absent from work frequently in order to provide care, this could go on to
affect the future of the informal carer as the absence from work may mean the informal carer is
unable to contribute enough insurance towards their pension meaning in the future they may
require to work longer in order to do so, this may be hard as the older the individual becomes, the
harder obtaining employment becomes. On the other hand, informal caring can provide relief and
comfort to the individual receiving the care as they will typically know and be comfortable around
the informal carer.
Informal caring is also comforting as due to the carer typically being an individual that the patient is
comfortable around, it is likely that the informal carer is genuinely interested in the health of the
patient, whereas at times this can be questionable with formal carers. With informal carers, it is also
a relief to be aware of the personal habits and past of that individual which is also questionable with
formal carers. Another advantage of informal caring is that the patient will have someone with them
in the event of emergency so help can be sought quickly, with formal carers, they may not visit every
