Unit 3 Health and Social Care - Care Value Base task 2

Rights and responsibilities: supporting a service user's rights to choose their own lifestyle; make their own decisions and helping them with their responsibilities. For example, a patient has the right to make their own decisions about smoking, but it is the doctor’s responsibility to inform them about the health risks and what smoking will do to their body, so that they can take responsibility for their own choice.

Confidentiality of information: Any information a service user provides is private and confidential, whether it be verbal, written, photographic or electronic (for example, an email). Information should only be recorded when necessary and must be destroyed when it is no longer needed. The information recorded should be purely facts, no opinions. The Data Protection Act 1998 gives very clear guidelines about what can and cannot be recorded, how it should be recorded and that all information must be legible, accurate and up-to-date. Care workers also must be clear of who will view the records, what they will be used for, and what the aim of the records are. For example a doctor must not record irrelevant information about a patient, and any information recorded must only be shared with whom it needs to be shared with, and kept out of view of other patients.

An advantage of the Care Value Base is that it ensures everyone is treated properly and that their rights are respected. However, if a care worker has deep rooted prejudice then it would be hard for them to abide by the Care Value Base so this would result in the service users not receiving the appropriate care.