Duty Of Care Essay

874 Words4 Pages

Duty of care is very important in the adult care line of work. According to Google, duty of care means to have “a moral or legal obligation to ensure the safety or well-being of others”. In adult care, duty of care applies to everything you do, this being anything from administering medication to encouraging someone to brush their teeth. As support workers, we have a responsibility to do everything in the best interest of the individuals we work with, and these are to be done because of our duty of care. Without a duty of care, there would be more possibility for individuals to be neglected and abused. In a work role like support worker, duty of care means to have the responsibility to ensure the best interest decision is always made, to act …show more content…

If anything was to go wrong with someone’s care, then it is our duty to let them and their family know what happened, why it happened, and how we can prevent it from happening again. It is really important that an apology is made to the individual and their family for any issues. Duty of care relates to duty of candour, they relate to each other for different reasons. The main reason for the relation between the two is that they both aid the health and well-being of individuals. Duty of candour enforces the principles of duty of …show more content…

If healthcare workers are following their duty of care, as they should, staff would be promoting individuals health and well-being and in turn, preventing abuse and neglect from occurring. For example, staff are to follow an individuals support plan when supporting them. The support plan has been created using a persons preferences, along with the best interest decision making for that individual, while also ensuring the staff are capable of following the plan. The person creating the support plan has a duty of care to ensure that everything they write in the plan is as detailed as can be while also trying to promote what is best for them on a case by case basis. Anyone who follows or has read the support plan provided to them for the individuals support, has a duty of care to follow that plan out exactly as it is specified. If staff are not following the support plan then they are neglecting that individual. All in all, duty of care has a big effect on safeguarding and protecting individuals’ right to live safely and free from abuse and