What is safety in health and social care? (100 words or less) Although safety priorities can differ in various health and social care organizations, however ensuring the safety of the service receiver is at the heart of all these health and social care organizations, thus similar safety protocols are followed in all kinds of health and social organizations. Following are some of the safety protocols a healthcare worker working in the health and social care organization should focus on while taking care of a disabled person: - Recognize and understand the service receiver’s behavior - Discover the cause if the behavior is unusual, - Manage the behavior - Deal politely and with kindness despite the care receiver’s misbehavior and anger - Evaluate for improvement Besides this the caregiver should also observe the disabled person’s environment for any possible risk of falling, electric shock, or any other possible danger. Additionally, preventing situations of overdosing of prescribed medicines or taking wrong medicine require extra care and planning on the care giver’s behalf. Why is safety important in health and social care? People that require health and social care services are vulnerable and at times unable to take care of their own safety, hence require all the more care and understanding. Coping with the sensitivity required in dealing with such patients require some set of safety regulations that provide security to both the caregiver and those affected by the work activities including the care receivers and support. These safety legislations ensure that everyone involved knows which behaviors are acceptable and which aren’t. Outlining the safety rules in health and social care is also important to prevent negligence by the healthcare workers making the service user vulnerable to ill-treatment and health hazards. Preserving a safe atmosphere represents a sense of compassion and diligence that is just as important to patient safety as any other component of professional health care. In addition to the apparent damage to patients, preventable patient safety related adverse heal th care outcomes have substantial financial effects for the patient, the provider, the insurer, an d sometimes the family and/or caregivers. Ensuring health and safety in a workplace is one great concern. It has turned into an integral part of any service. The workers and management in a healthcare service are responsible for ensuring safety in a health and social care service. There are many ways to ensure safety in health and social care. Some of the most prominent ones are as follows. Policies for communicating information There are many procedures and policies for communicating information on health and safety in a health and social care organization. The most important is the data protection act. The Data Protection Act of 1998 was created to ensure the user’s right to their health and personal records privacy. This information could contain the service user’s ethnicity, religious and political beliefs, sexuality, and so on. This data must be only used when necessary, like for emergencies where understanding medically relevant information could be vital for the patient’s health. If this information is not kept private, then there are high chances that any individual could alter and manipulate this data to cause harm to the user. A Safe Culture Ensuring a good culture is imperative for a health and social care service. Staff should be made comfortable enough to discuss errors and mistakes with the management. This is only possible if a safe work environment is created for the staff to operate in. There would be fewer incidents if the staff is encouraged to report inefficiencies or unsafe clinical practice. Communication about the side effects of medication A significant element of the patient’s safety is good clarification and communication to the patient for the use of the prescribed drug and its side effects. The patient needs to be aware of this information. For example: if a medication has a dozy side effect then it is good practice to inform the patient about it. The patient then can take the medication and avoid doing risky work like driving or operating dangerous equipment at work. Cleanliness at a health and social care center Cleanliness is an integral part of ensuring safe, high-quality care across health and social care services. Failure to meet the necessary requirements could contribute to the spread of diseases, closures of hospital wards, and potentially affect the staff and patient’s health. Educating the staff on Safety Policies Employers and employees need to recognize their organizational safety responsibilities. Administrators should periodically update staff members on relevant policy changes in addition to educating each new employee on hospital safety. Management personnel must recognize the r oles involved in ensuring patient safety. Also, safety protocols and procedures should be stated clearly by every medical organization. Employees need to feel secure at expressing complaints. Successful safety preparation also pro vides reassurance, along with a clearly defined protocol for handling and documenting problems, that managers can obtain information with impartiality. Strong Safety Compliance Plan Continuous monitoring and assessment by hospital managers of how staff implements defined policies are vital. This information can then be used by institutional governing boards and boards of directors to change organizational policies as needed.
