Helpful Experienced
Responsible Professional
Maturity Have a driving licence
Conscientious Knowledgeable
Tolerant nature Well-qualified
Honest Good English/maths
Reliable IT skills
Smart
Ambitious
Committed
Supportive
Disciplined
Dynamic
Sympathetic
Patient
Good attitude
Understanding
Friendly
Steady
Calm
The care value base
The care value base is the name given to the principles, which form the basis of all care work. All care work is about improving the lives of clients’ intellectual, emotional, physical and social needs. The care value base describes how a patient/client would want to be treated when being cared for. Practitioners follow guidelines to ensure that the clients know what sort of care is expected. The values are an important feature of all care practice. The guidelines and codes of practice are used give clients the ability to do things for his or herself (empower) through seven main principles.
Promoting anti-discriminatory practice
Everyone is different so it can be easy to assume that some people are better than others or that someone’s opinion is wrong. Diversity is something important and should be valued. An example of being discriminated is if a Christian patient is treated better in a hospital than a patient of another religion such as Sikhism. This is known as racial discrimination.
Maintaining confidentiality of information
Keeping information confidential is very important to care work and all clients have the right to it. It is important for: Trust, self-esteem, safety, professionalism, legality and discrimination. However, sometimes it may be necessary to tell a manager about clients’ personal details when risks are serious. This is called ‘keeping confidentiality within boundaries.’ For example, if a patient poses a threat to the safety of others including care workers, it is necessary to break the confidentiality. Care workers should not promise to keep conversations confidential. An example of confidentiality is that in a surgery, a receptionist will only have access for appointments and not to personal details and illnesses of patients.
Promoting and supporting individuals’ rights
Everyone has his or her own beliefs. Clients have the right to freedom of discrimination, independence, respect, health, safety and security.
Giving clients control can increase their independence. To retain dignity, when being helped to wash, eat and dress, clients feel it is important to be allowed to keep their self-worth. For example, in a residential home, if an aged woman does not eat beef, she has the right to not eat it and therefore she must be given something else. Care workers cannot force her to eat beef, as she would be going against her own beliefs.
Acknowledging individuals’ personal beliefs and identity
Being open to people’s beliefs and identity and being aware of it is important. Care workers should not try and change a patient’s beliefs because they are not the same as his or hers. In care settings, everyone should get a service of the same quality meeting his/her needs. Treating people as individuals, accepting their beliefs, abilities, likes and dislikes is at the heart of caring for others. Carers need to acknowledge a person’s beliefs and identity. For example, if a Muslim patient is being seen by a doctor and needs to pray, the practitioner needs to let the patient do so even though they would rather be treating them.
Protecting individuals from abuse
There are several forms of abuse:
Physical – hitting, pushing etc
Sexual – contacting body in a sexual way
Verbal – insults, name calling etc
Neglect – ignoring a person, not giving them what they need
Exclusion – Stopping them from getting what they need
Avoidance – avoiding contact on purpose
Devaluing – making a person think they are less valuable than others
Abuse can cause frustration and stress. Physical abuse can usually be identified by bruises or unexplained injuries. If being abused, a client may become withdrawn, quiet and experience mood swings. Organisations such as the NSPCC help protect from abuse. An example of sexual abuse is if a male surgeon touches a female patient inappropriately against her will.
Promoting effective communication and relationships
We express who we are, how we are feelings, what we think, our opinions and our needs through relationships. Communication skills are vital to care workers as it helps them develop care relationships, provide and receive information and report on the work they do on clients.
Effective communication skills can help establish and support positive relationships because they can give workers the ability to understand the work of others, show respect and form relationships with clients.
Body language is non-verbal communication. Some of the most important body areas that send out messages are:
- eyes
- angle of head/face
- tone of voice
- hands and arms
- gestures
- postures
- touch
Folding your arms when talking to someone gives the impression that you are trying to block people out, whereas open arms send a welcoming message.
Providing individualised care
Clients need to have control of their own lives. They need to be able to express their opinions and make informed choices so that they feel in control. A good practitioner makes sure that the client’s needs are met and that the client feels that they are receiving the attention the want and need. Giving individualised care makes patients feel valued. For example, and elderly woman may want to live in the comfort of her own home instead of at a residential home. Therefore a social worker would have to assess the situation and provide what the woman needs.
Day to Day task of Bina Patel – pharmacist
In the morning, Bina Patel has the responsibility of arriving at work by 9.00 am to open the chemist up. She starts dispensing prescriptions for when clients come to pick up their prescribed medication. She also checks that there is enough money in the till for when customers pay for toiletries, medicine etc. she serves the customers too. She waits for the other staff to arrive whilst doing all of the above. Along with other staff, Bina checks the stock of medication and other items and double-checks the prescriptions.
During the day, Bina gives counselling for clients and patients in a private consultation room in the chemist and also provide anti-smoking services. As part of her day-to-day tasks, she has to train and assess staff because pharmacy is a continual developing profession. At the end of the day, Bina is responsible of counting the day’s prescriptions, cashing up and locking the chemist.
How the pharmacist applies the care value base
in day to day tasks
To maintain confidentiality within the chemist, Bina does not discuss client’s information with other people or members of staff unless it is absolutely necessary ‘keeping confidentiality within boundaries’. Personal details are not accessible by all staff. Details are stored on computer files that need a password to be opened and only certain staff members have the password, as it is part of their job to keep track of the clients.
A patient’s illness or reason for medication remains private in the chemist and Bina doesn’t casually talk about it to people who it doesn’t concern.
Anti-discrimination is promoted by giving the same service to all clients and patients despite their race, religion or colour. For example, if a Hindu woman came in for counselling, she would get the same service as a Christian woman. She would not get treated differently. Patients are not favoured because of their religion or colour at the chemist.
To promote and support individuals’ rights, she gives the clients the opportunity to say what they want and need. All staff try their very best to reach the needs of clients and respect his or her choices to do what they want.
Bina and other staff respect all clients. They acknowledge individuals’ personal beliefs and identity. Beliefs are accepted and respected by all in the chemist and not attempted to be changed. For example, if a client had to pray whilst Bina was offering counselling, Bina leaves the room and lets him or her pray.
Clients are protected from abuse with CCTV cameras. Staff members believe that abusing clients is just not acceptable. They show politeness to all clients but show firmness when it’s needed.
Counselling is an effective way of communication and building relationships at the chemist. By counselling patients, Bina becomes trusted by them and clients start to open up to her.
To provide individualised care, the staff give clients personalised care and for their own privacy, counselling is done in a private consultation room.
Barriers
Barriers are things that prevent people from using a service that they need. There are six main barriers that make clients avoid using a particular service in health and social care.
Physical barriers
Physical barriers can include no wheelchair access, too many flights of stairs, lack of services for blind and deaf, doors not big enough to bring a buggy in, etc.
All of the above can stop certain people from using services. To overcome the last one, the place of service should get new doors put in so that mothers with young children can use the service.
The chemist had no physical barriers. It had disabled access, zoom labels for the partially blind and the staff would write down things for the deaf clients.
Psychological barriers
These are the feelings and attitude that a person has towards a service. Clients may avoid using a service in fear of losing their individual independence.
Bina felt that the chemist did not have any psychological barriers.
Financial barriers
If a service is too expensive for most people to use, they won’t use it. If a surgery charged its patients, only the well-off people of the society would be seen as others would struggle to pay for the services. The NHS is a great solution for this as it provides a free health care service to all.
All things at the chemist are reasonably priced and not expensive at all so there were no financial barriers.
Cultural and language barriers
If a member of staff does not speak the same language as the client, the client might stop using that service because they are not understood. A solution to this would be to have an interpreter to translate what they client is saying.
The chemist does have some language barriers. Some customers cannot speak English and sometimes there isn’t a staff member available to translate for them.
Geographical barriers
This barrier is dependant on where a service is located. If patients have to travel a long way to get to the service, they’ll find somewhere else to go.
The chemist is located within the city and in a highly populated residential area so there are no geographical barriers.
Resource barriers
Resource barriers can be caused when a service has a very little amount of staff present, not enough products or a lack of funding. A lack of information can be a barrier too.
There is a decent amount of information given out and the chemist and clients receive answers to any queries they may have. It is relatively well funded and is always prepared with extra stock of certain items.
Needs of clients
Babies
Babies need nappies, baby food, baby wipes and teething toys, as these are their physical needs. They need nappies and wipes for personal hygiene and teething toys and food for growth and comfort. Drinking beakers and baby spoons build on a baby’s eye and hand co-ordination. Babies need laughter, love and need to bond with others so that they feel safe and loved. Making friends is an important social need for babies as it helps them to socialise.
The chemist provides all the physical needs as they are all on sale for parents to buy. Toys, beakers and baby spoons are also available. Staff show love and try to bond with babies, this may mean holding the baby for a while. Becoming known to the baby and being friendly towards them, meets their social needs.
Children
Children need potty training equipment and medication for physical reasons. They need books to learn how to read and stimulate their minds. Similarly to babies, children need love, laughter and need to bond with other so that they feel safe and comfortable with whom they are with. Making friends and using facilities is vital to help them to socialise.
The chemist provides prescribed medication for children as well as medication, which can help them to grow. Potty training equipment can be brought from there too. Just like with babies, staff members are friendly towards children and try to make them laugh when the parent is
Otherwise occupied. The chemist puts up posters relating to day care groups for children.
Adolescence
Cosmetics and products are important to the adolescence generation. Medication is also a physical need. An intellectual need is to know about the effects of illnesses. These are provided through leaflets. Four of the emotional needs are love, bonding, laughter and respect. Making friends, independence and use of facilities are social needs that adolescence need.
The chemist provides cosmetics and products on its shelves for customers to buy. Medication is also available. Leaflets about smoking and other illnesses are placed on the counter in the chemist for people to take and read. Staff respect all their customers and try to link with them. They may talk personally with a customer, which helps their emotional needs. Customers (adolescences) sometimes become friends with staff and learn to be independent.
Adults
Medication, sex related products and disability access are all physical needs of an adult. Information needs to be given out to them so that they are aware of the effects of smoking, binge drinking, etc. Counselling is an emotional need because clients can talk freely without any consequences. They need to feel respected, cared for and laugh to feel happy. Again, making friends, being independent and using facilities are the social needs.
All the physical needs are met at the chemist. Medication, sex related products and access for the disabled are provided as well as the information leaflets of the counter. Counselling is given and staff care and respect customers. Being friendly results in customers and workers becoming friends and facilities are available to use independently too.
65+
Medication is an important physical need for 65+’s well being. Disability access for those who need it and blind and deaf services are vital for customers with difficulties. Information needs to be provided on illnesses, vaccines etc. to meet their intellectual needs. They need to be encouraged to take medicine, respected and need to laugh to feel happy. Counselling helps them to get thing off their chest that they may be worrying about. Making friends, being independent, and activities meet what they need to be socialable.
The chemist meets all the physical needs. Information on pharmaceutical relating issues is provided on leaflets and posters. Staff members encourage clients and respect them. Counselling is offered to them in a private room. At times, the chemist becomes a very social place because a lot of customers see other friends in the chemist, or start talking to staff members. The chemist gives clients the opportunity to be independent enough to decide what they want to do.
Clients in an average week
Qualifications, qualities and skills of a pharmacist
To become a pharmacist, you need to have 3 A levels, including Chemistry and two other science subjects from Biology, Physics and Maths. GCSEs at grade C or above in science subjects (or double science award) are essential. Candidates also need to have a further 2 or 3 GCSEs at grade C or above (including maths and English). To become a professional pharmacist, a degree in pharmacy is needed.
Community pharmacists need to have a high level of scientific knowledge and attention to detail is essential when dealing with prescriptions and preparing medicines. You must be a willing learner, as you need to keep up to date which new developments in medical and legal; issues to do with abuse and misuse of products. Tact and discretion is also needed. You may also need to reassure customers as some may get confused. To be a good pharmacist, it is expected that you are patient, understanding, hard working and have the ability to work under pressure.
Good communication skills are important because pharmacists must be able to explain things clearly as they’ll be giving advice on medicines and also on general health such as giving up smoking. Listening skills are essential for when listening to what the clients have to say. Business and management skills are necessary for most pharmacists.
Entry Routes
You can get A level qualifications at a college of FE or a sixth form college.
To become a registered pharmacist, you need to complete a degree in pharmacy, which is accredited by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
After the degree, you need to follow a ‘pre-registration’ year in pharmacy, which must be approved by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Training can be done in a pharmaceutical company as long as you have spent 6 months in a community/hospital sector.
A list of some universities in Britain who provide the pharmacy degree:
Robert Gordon University
Aston University
University Of Bath
Queen’s University Belfast
University Of Bradford
University Of Brighton
Cardiff University
De Monfort University
University Of East Anglia
Liverpool John Moores University
King’s College London
University Of London
University Of Manchester
University Of Nottingham
University Of Portsmouth
University Of Strathclyde
University Of Sunderland
5 GCSEs
BTEC/SQA
3-year degree in pharmacy
1 year pre-registration
5 GCSEs A*-C grades
including English and Maths
3 A levels – MUST have Chemistry
3-year degree in pharmacy
1-year pre-registration course