The Data Protection Act directs how your personal information is used and protects your personal information from being misused.
The Data Protection Act requires personal information to be:
- fairly and lawfully processed
- processed for limited purposes
- adequate, relevant and not excessive
- accurate
- not kept longer than necessary
- processed in accordance with your rights
- kept secure
- not transferred abroad without adequate protection
The Access to Health Record Act 1990 directs the care workers to let
the service users see their health records.
All patients have the right to see their own health records under the Data Protection Act 1998. If a service user is under 16, their parents have the right to access their health records under the Access to Health Records Act 1990.
Access to personal files Act 1987 provides rights for people to access their personal data about themselves on computers and paper. The Data Protection Act (DPA) provides a right for the service user for access to personal information held by public authorities such as hospitals, doctors and etc.
e.g. A 14 years old girl goes to a hospital and tells the doctor that she is pregnant and wants an abortion. The doctor has to keep this information confidential because if the girl wanted the information to be disclosed on to her patients, she wouldn’t have trusted the doctor and come to the hospital, she could have bought some pills and took them instead. The doctor has to hide this information from her family and has to abort the baby instead because the girl has a right to hide some information from her family to a certain extent but has to disclose the information to a child protection officer.
Individual Rights
Please refer to the 10 rights booklet attached to this coursework.
Personal beliefs and identity
All Service Users, Care Workers and Professions have the rights to: privacy and to maintain their own beliefs that have got to do with themselves such as: their religion, ethics, culture and sexual preferences.
e.g. In a hospitals outpatients ward, there are lots of people that have different beliefs, one of the patients is a Christian, who believes that Jesus died on a cross. The other patients are Muslims, Jews, Hindu, etc.
Most of the carers are also Christians so they believe that Jesus died on the cross. Everyone has the right to believe in what ever they want, as there is an Act of Legislation to protect them.
Effective Communication
Effective Communication is very important, it is the central part of the Care Value Base which involves speaking and listening. Communication can take place verbally or non-verbally. Verbal Communication involves speaking and non-verbal communication involves facial expressions, eye contact, straight body postures and gestures.
e.g. In an hospital MRI scanning area, the carer has to talk to the service user in a polite way with eye contact at all times so the service user feels comfortable talking to the care worker. The care worker has to have good facial expression such as smiling, using hand gestures and having a straight body posture. The carer has to make sure he/she looks happy so that the service user can communicate with the service user in a better way, without having any barriers in between such as inappropriate behaviour, so they can disclose information about themselves.
How the Care Value Base is incorporated in social work?
The Care Value Base is also a part of Social Care as well as Health Care. In Social Care it is called the GSCC (General Social Care Council) in the codes of practice, which is a set of rules which apply to all professionals in Social Care, the professionals have to follow the rules to work in a correct way.
Care Value Base is a very important part for social workers in social work. It helps the social workers to use effective communication and support the service users as much as possible such as: meeting their needs and listening to their views.
e.g. Personal Beliefs and Identity – This care value base means the same for Social Care and Health Care because all service users have the right to: privacy and to maintain their own beliefs that have got to do with themselves such as: their religion, ethics, culture and sexual preferences.
Workers responsibilities
Workers are known as professionals in health and social care settings, all workers have responsibilities towards the service users. These responsibilities are:
1. Provision of active support to enable patients to communicate their needs, views and preferences
Workers have to provide support for the service users physically – by making the service users health better, intellectually – by getting someone to help, emotionally – by giving them support and socially – by helping the service user to socialize, can be possible by providing a waiting room. Workers also need to make sure they are taking the service users choices into account and fulfilling their needs, listening to their views and to help them when they need help.
e.g. If a service user is disabled, the workers have to make sure the service user is provided with a wheel chair or provide the service required to meet the needs of the disability.
If a service user is vegetarian, the workers have to make sure the service user only gets the vegetarian menu and the right food.
If a service user is a foreigner, such as an Indian and cannot speak and understand English, the worker has to get a translator as the service user has the right to be able to communicate using their preferred methods of communication and language.
2. Importance of accurate recording; storing and retrieving information
It is very important to store and to receive important information very securely of the service users. This is because if the information is right it will help prevent information from being misused or risking someone’s life.
Storing and retrieving information is very important in health and social care because patients would expect their personal information to be safe and secure from unauthorised people.
Information could be stored on computer or paper which should be stored properly away from unauthorised peoples reach as they could breech confidentiality. Service users have a right to keep their information confidential under the Data Protection Act 1998.
e.g. if a service user is donating blood to another service user, the workers have to make sure they have checked both of the service users blood groups to prevent anything from happening because it can be a very high risk to either of their lives if the bloods get mixed up.
3. Use of communication to support diversity and promote equality of opportunity
It is vitally important that a worker recognises the differences between service users so that they can provide as much support as possible which will help prevent having any barriers to communication. Workers should take in account that the service users are diverse and should try their best to treat them with equality. They should also make sure that they have met the service users needs despite their differences. There are different ways to support diversity, this can be done by putting posters on around the hospital and providing leaflets in different languages for service users that speak foreign languages.
e.g. In a hospital emergency ward, there is a patient who is Chinese, which makes him diverse to other service users and workers. He had an accident and broke his foot. He is also diverse from others because he cannot speak or understand English. The workers have to provide a translator which make it easier for both, the service user and worker to communication and will be a better way for the workers to ask the service user about his health and his personal details. The workers have to make sure that they have met the service users needs and are treating him with equality despite his differences.
4. Filling correctly and securely
Workers need to make sure if they have filled in the service users information correctly and it has been stored securely. All service users expect their information such as files and documents remain secure and not to be misused or accessed by unauthorised people.
e.g. In an hospital outpatients ward, a patient goes for a check up and is asked for their home address and phone number, the patient tells the worker that he/she have changed their details and need updating on the system as the hospital have the old information stored. The worker writes the updated details on a piece of paper and then gives it to the receptionist who leaves in on the desk where anyone could see it. The service user expects their personal information and documents to be filled in properly and put away securely and updated not left on the desk so unauthorised people could breech confidentiality.
5. Confidentiality; disclose
Please refer to page 2
6. Electronic storage
In nearly all Health and Social care settings, information is stored on electronic devices such as computers, laptops, discs, memory sticks, etc. Professionals have to make sure that all the devices are kept safe and secure from unauthorised people. Information of the service users need to be updated and used by the workers despite the service users. The settings always should keep a back-up copy of all the information in case the computer crashes and everything gets lost. Authorised staff should use a password to access the system. There should be a policy on printing confidential records so that the records don’t get lost or be seen by unauthorised staff. There should be a policy showing who could update or change records on the system. Faxed documents should be sent, received and stored securely to prevent unauthorised people from having access to confidential documents.
7. Dealing with tensions between rights and responsibilities
Sometimes workers and service users have disagreements which turn into difficult problems. Mostly disagreements tend to happen when workers are trying to fulfil their responsibilities of the service users’ health but the service user has the right to do that specific thing.
e.g. A patient has high insulin in their blood meaning they cannot eat or drink anything which contains sugar but the service user says that they have ‘The right that takes account of their choices’, but the worker says that it is a very high risk to the service users health if they have even a tiny bit of sugary things, they can have a heart attack but the service user still insists.
Data protection Act 1998
Please refer to page 2
Codes of practice
In the Health and Social care industry, they have created rules for guidance and advice. Codes of practice are not laws, they are basic rules which the Health and Social Care industry would expect the professionals to follow.
Codes of practice are created by the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 and must be agreed by the Minister for Commerce before they get used or come in action.
e.g. In a hospital, in the ENT apartment, the Health and Social Care industry have set up rules like wearing appropriate clothing such as blue top and trousers, with flat black shoes and for women they have to tie their hair up for hygiene reasons.
Charters
In 1991 the NHS originally introduced ‘Charters’, but now the charters are also expectations that have been introduced to all public hospitals. The patients Charters provide the rights of the patients and the standards they can expect from the NHS services and all the professionals. They are a bit like codes of practice but have been created by the government. The Charters have been set out to show the service users their rights and responsibilities in a hospital. This will help the service users and professionals to have good relationship.
e.g. In a hospital outpatients ward, the patients have expectations such as the waiting time, the professionals have to fulfil their promise of seeing the patients on time and not to disappoint them.
Policies
Policies help direct and show what the health and social care professionals should do and explains what the professionals should do when a code of practice is broken.
Normally policies are known as contracts between the service users and professionals, they both have to follow the rules.
If a worker manages to break a code of practice, they will have to go through many procedures and could end up loosing their job if they do not follow the policies.
e.g. In a hospital if a practice nurse breaks a code of practice such as not wearing her uniform and coming into work with a pair of jeans, a pink sleeves top and with her hair down. Firstly the worker will be warned by a senior member of the department and then will go through many procedures. If the worker ignores the warning, she may be sent home and may only be allowed to continue working only if she changes her uniform and puts her hair up for hygiene reasons.
Expectations of the patients
In every Health and Social Care setting patients have lots of expectances of the practitioners, which is a bit like the ‘charters’ but there is a massive difference between both of them, expectations are not promises that the NHS service have made, this is what the patients expect.
In a hospital, patients would expect:
- Clean place
- See professional on time
- Getting their meals on time
- Effective treatment by trusted professionals
- Participation in decisions and respect for preferences
- Emotional support, sympathy and respect
- Affordable treatment and care
- Health protection and disease prevention
- Confidentiality
- Given medication on time
- Warmth
- Positive attitude from the professionals and get treated with respect
- The professionals to be fully trained
- Professionals wearing their uniform for hygiene reasons (clean clothing, clean and sensible footwear, hair tied up)
- Not to be discriminated
- Expect to see their own health records
