HSC301 - An Introduction to Health and Social Care Assignment Sample

• Type Assignment
• Downloads546
• Pages14
• Words3385

Introduction

The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate the roles and responsibilities of healthcare workers, regulatory bodies, and multi-disciplinary teams in healthcare setup or while providing care to individuals. Healthcare workers play important roles in the provision of effective responses to the needs and preferences of the care users. According to Sull et al., (2015), health worker workers have the duty and responsibility to deliver necessary treatment, support and care to every individual with specific needs which is rooted in moral obligations and legal compliances to act in the best interests of every individual who needs care services as per their health needs. In this assessment, the focus will be given to the main roles and responsibilities of health and social care professionals and how to report poor practices in care provision. Another important objective of this report is to highlight the importance of regulatory bodies in delivering high-quality care and the roles of inter-professional teams or multi-disciplinary teams when it comes to delivering care and services to individuals with specific needs.

Question 1: The main roles and responsibilities of Health and Social care workers when delivering care

This HSC301 - An Introduction to Health and Social Care Assignment has been prepared with the support of an Assignment Helper, providing clear explanations of healthcare professionals’ roles, reporting poor practice, and the importance of regulatory and professional bodies in delivering high-quality care.

HSC301 - An Introduction to Health and Social Care Assignment Sample

Liked This Sample? Hire Me Now

Alan White 10 Years | MSc

AC 1.1 Roles and Responsibilities of Health and Social Care Professionals

Healthcare professionals including midwives, nurses, and carers play an important role in delivering care and services to patients with specific needs. Each of these professionals plays distinctive yet interrelated roles and responsibilities, which contribute to the overall health, well—being, and recovery process of the patients at different stages of care. For example, in a healthcare setup, the key roles and responsibilities of midwives are to deliver care to the patient during the postpartum period (Woolf et al., 2021). The responsibility of a midwife in healthcare setup is to monitor the health, and well-being of both child and mother and provide prenatal education and assistance during the delivery process. Another important responsibility of midwives is to offer necessary care and support to women from the adolescent period to the menopausal years.

On the other hand, the nurses used to play diversified roles and responsibilities in the healthcare setup. A nurse is used to provide care across different medical settings including hospitals, clinics, community healthcare centres and so on. The responsibilities of nurses include assessing the patient's health, administrating medication, coordinating care plans, and providing the necessary support and therapeutic substance to the patient by managing the dignity, and autonomy of the patient (Taylor et al., 2019). Nurses used to act as advocates whose major role is to maintain the communicative and therapeutic relationship between patients and other care professionals and ensure that the needs, preferences, and health outcomes of the patient are met with respect and dignified way (Offen, 2015).

Carers including caregivers and support workers are primary care providers, whose responsibility is to provide day-to-day care to the individuals who need assistance carrying out daily living activities (Swanson et al., 2020). The specific responsibilities of carers in healthcare setup are to assist the patients with health and hygiene, mobility, meals, and personal care.

Considering these, as a whole it can be stated that, the core roles and responsibilities of healthcare professionals in care settings are as follows:

• Implementation of care planning: healthcare professionals are responsible for developing care plans by integrating the needs, and preferences of the patient.
• Monitoring and evaluation: another role and responsibility of care workers is to monitor the patient’s progress and evaluate the effectiveness of care plans (Htay and Whitehead, 2021).
• Advocacy: the core responsibility of care workers or healthcare professionals is to advocate the rights and needs of patient.

In summary, healthcare professionals play an important role in the healthcare sector. They are considered to be responsible for meeting the patients’ needs, developing care plans, implementing medical interventions, advocate the rights and needs of patients to ensure their health outcomes.

AC 1.2 Reporting Poor Practice

Reporting poor healthcare practices or incident reporting is considered to be essential as it can help improve the patient’s safety and quality of care. Reporting poor practice can help the care workers or healthcare professionals to identify the safety hazards and guide them in developing interventions to reduce the scope of risks (Htay and Whitehead, 2021). For example, on 27^th July 2024, it was observed that the patient in room 18 was not treated for more than 20 minutes despite the repetitive calls for support and help from the patient’s side. This delay may cause serious health-related risks or issues for the patient. On the other hand, on 26^th July 2024, poor hygiene was reported for the patient, along with the staff’s irresponsibility of not following proper hygiene protocol while handling the patients. In such a scenario, it is considered to be important to follow proper mechanisms for reporting poor practice. For instance, observation and documentation can be one of the mechanisms to report poor practices, where the staff should be encouraged to observe and document the poor practices is performed in healthcare settings with the personal care of the patient (Woo and Avery, 2021). Detailed documentation can help to provide a clear record of events. Similarly, formal reporting systems by supervisors, and managers by using formal channels like incident reporting forms, and direct communication can facilitate the clear identification of the poor practices in healthcare setup (Heron and Eisma, 2021). As a newly joined medical receptionist, my role in reporting poor health care practices like negligence will include the documentation of incidents like a patient being left unattended despite showing signs of distress, with specific details will be the best-fit approach. Here, the document will include the date, time, and responsible authorities or professionals associated with that negligence (Cheluvappa and Selvendran, 2020). As a receptionist, it seems to be important for me to maintain the confidentiality of the patient, safeguard the patient's safety and uphold ethical standards while reporting poor practices.

Task 2: The importance of regulatory bodies in the delivery of high-quality care

Task 2 of this HSC301 – An Introduction to Health and Social Care Assignment explains the importance of regulatory and professional bodies in the UK healthcare system. It highlights how organisations like the CQC, MHRA, HEE, RCPE, and HCPC ensure high-quality, safe, and ethical care by monitoring services, regulating professionals, and supporting continuous development.

AC 2.1 Role of Regulatory Bodies

In the UK healthcare facilities, two important regulatory bodies that inspect the quality of health and social care provisions are the CQC or Care Quality Commission and MHRA or Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

The Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency or MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care of the UK, whose primary responsibility is to regulate medicines and ensure safety measures of medical devices in accordance with the safety standards. In the UK healthcare facility, the MHRA is responsible for licensing and regulating the distribution of medicines across England and ensuring that the new medicines are effective to meet the required standards of safety, and quality before those are ready for commercialised (Aziza, 2020). This regulatory body also operates a Yellow Card Scheme to allow healthcare professionals across England to report adverse effects of medical devices, and medicines to the responsible authorities (Nandra et al., 2020). This regulatory authority also monitors clinical trials on medicines, and medication devices in an ethical way to measure, and assess potential risks, and benefits, and ensure that trials are conducted in compliance with GCP or Good Clinical Practice standards (Morrison et al., 2020).

On the other hand, the role of the Care Quality Commission, as a non-departmental public body in England is to regulate the health and social care services in healthcare facilities across the country. The basic role of CQC is to ensure that the healthcare services offered by different healthcare organisations across the UK are safe, effective, compassionate and high-quality (Wise, 2024). The CQC used to carry out regular inspections at different healthcare sectors and organisations including hospitals, care homes, and GP practices to assess whether the service provisions of these facilities are complied with the safety and quality standards set up by the CQC and healthcare department of the UK Government (Bach-Mortensen et al., 2024). The CQC also plays an important role in safeguarding vulnerable individuals by promoting transparency in healthcare services facilities through publishing inspection reports (Rayner, 2022). This in turn can help healthcare organisations to make improvements in their service facilities to meet the healthcare needs and outcomes of the population in society.

AC 2.2 Professional Bodies that Regulate the Professions within Health and Social Care

There are several professional bodies in the UK, whose major responsibilities are to regulate the duties of healthcare professionals associated with this specific sector. For example,

Health Education England or HEE is a non-departmental public body governed by the Department of Health and Social Care in England. The primary role of Health Education England is to ensure that the healthcare workforces are equipped with the right amount of skills, and knowledge and can access training to meet the needs and safety standards of the patient, and the healthcare system of the UK (Leigh et al., 2020). The basic role of Health Education England is to plan and commission the education and training programs for healthcare professionals across England, for which HEE works in collaboration with NHS Trust, healthcare institutes and other stakeholders. Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh or RCPE is a professional membership organisation for the physicians and healthcare professionals of England. This regulatory body provides a primary focus on medical professions and plays an important role in the broader regulation of health and social care professionals through advocacy, education, and setting healthcare standards and quality protocols. The RCPE is also involved in developing and maintaining clinical guidance and standards to ensure that physicians across England are aware of the clinical and safety standards while offering high-quality and evidenced-based care to the patient. The college also provides CPD or continuous professional development scope and opportunity to enable the healthcare professional to develop their skills and keep their knowledge up-to-date (Shadmanov et al., 2023). HCPC or Health and Care Professions Council is another statutory and regulative body in the UK, whose responsibility is to regulate the ethics and standards related to a wide range of professionals in healthcare facilities including physiotherapists, radiographers, occupational therapists, social workers, and so on (Karas et al., 2020).

As a whole, it can be stated that, together, these regulatory organisations used to contribute to effective management, regulation and improvement of health and social care professions in the UK. Another important role of these regulatory bodies is to ensure that the professionals are competent enough to deliver high-quality, evidence-based, and ethically viable care to the patients and every service user based on their health needs.

Task 3: Report on the performance of inter-professional healthcare and multidisciplinary teams

Task 3 of this HSC301 – An Introduction to Health and Social Care Assignment examines the performance of inter-professional and multidisciplinary teams in healthcare. It explains the roles and responsibilities of team members, highlights the differences between inter-professional and multidisciplinary approaches, and explores potential barriers to effective teamwork along with solutions to enhance collaboration, communication, and patient-centered care.

3.1: Roles and Responsibilities of the Inter-professional Team

In the healthcare setup, both interprofessional teams and multidisciplinary teams play important roles in patient care. According to Konrad (2020), the interprofessional team in a healthcare facility comprises professionals from different disciplines like pharmaceuticals, social care workers, doctors, and nurses whose major role is to provide comprehensive, and evidence-based care to the patient by maintaining their preferences, and dignity. On the other hand, a multidisciplinary team refers to a team composed of professionals from different expertise like physical therapists, psychologists, physicians, dieticians and so on who work side by side with each other but within their expertise backgrounds. Therefore, in healthcare practice, the role of the inter-professional team is to provide person-centric and comprehensive care to the patient. The key roles and responsibilities of an inter-professional team in a healthcare setup are communication and coordination (van Diggele et al., 2020). The team members within the inter-professional team are liable to communicate with each other effectively, by including patient and family members in the care plan. In an Interprofessional team, each healthcare worker or care professional including nurses, physicians, pharmacists and social care workers should be aware of their roles and others’ responsibilities which help them to use their expertise effectively when delivering treatment and care support to the patient with specific needs. Another important role of professionals in the inter-professional team at a healthcare facility is to understand and focus on the patient’s needs, preferences and treatment goals and create a personalised and collaborative care plan by maintaining the patient’s dignity, and autonomy. According to Tadic et al., (2020), in an inter-professional team, each team member with various professional expertise should contribute to assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating patient care. The responsibilities of an interprofessional team in a healthcare facility include respecting the roles and ideology of every member within the team, including the patient, and their family members, integrating diverse perspectives into the unified care plan, and prioritising the patient's safety and outcome.

3.2: Multi-disciplinary vs. Inter-professional Team Working

The primary difference between inter-professional and multi-disciplinary teams in healthcare facilities includes the approach to integration and collaboration. Considering the core concept, it can be seen that a multidisciplinary team is comprised of professionals from different disciplinaries including physiologists, psychologists, dieticians, and so on, whereas, an inter-professional team consists of professionals from different disciplines who work collaboratively to acquire shared goal of providing person-centric care. In multi-disciplinary teams, the professionals used to work independently in their expertise field with limited interaction and integration of their roles with others within the team (Rowan et al., 2022). In contrast, the professionals in the interprofessional team are abode by contributing their expertise, and knowledge and are engaged through ongoing communication, shared decision-making, and mutual respect. The members in interprofessional teams used to provide a strong focus on joint decision-making and to develop a unified care plan and this collaborative approach often leads to more effective, and holistic patient care, as team members actively engage with one another to address the complex needs of the patient. In contrast, the members of the multidisciplinary teams work together to address the different needs of patients but ten to operate with more independence (Schilling et al., 2022). More specifically, in a multi-disciplinary team, the professional tries to focus on their areas of expertise and contributes their findings and recommendations to develop a care plan for the patient, therefore here communication is less frequent and less integrated, which refers to the fragmented care approach in the patient care plan.

3.3: Potential Barriers to Team Working and Solutions

Barriers to Inter-Professional Team Working:

Organisational barriers: These include lack of resources, poor communication, and complex hierarchical structure within the healthcare organisation. According to Schot et al., (2020), a hierarchical structure creates a power imbalance and can restrict open communication among team members. It in turn can limit the availability of resources which further restricts the collaborative practice and teamwork in the healthcare setup. Schilling et al., (2022) has mentioned that limited resources can constrain the ability to implement collaborative practice while inadequate communication channels can lead to misunderstanding and fragmentation in care approaches. To mitigate this risk, focus can be given to the development of flattening hierarchies, enhancement in communication, and easy accessibility of resources. Flatten hierarchical structure can provide a culture of equality where all the team members are encouraged to value and respect the patients and other members of the team regardless of their professional background (Fernandopulle, 2021). Implementation of regular team meetings and communication and, the use of collaborative tools can also ease the team working both inter-professional and multidisciplinary team working approaches in healthcare facilities.

Considering the core concept of an inter-professional team in a healthcare setup, it can be stated that this team approach is effective and advantageous enough when it comes to enhancing patient outcomes, increasing healthcare effectiveness and efficiencies, and providing holistic care to the patient. Through a collaborative, and integrative teamwork approach, an inter-professional team is considered to be more significant than a multidisciplinary team, particularly in terms of providing patient-centric care (Carron et al., 2021). However, overcoming the barrier is considered to be important to increase the effectiveness of inter-professional teamwork in the healthcare setup.

Conclusion

To conclude this assessment, it can be stated healthcare professionals, regulatory bodies, and multi-disciplinary teams play an important role in ensuring the delivery of high-quality, evidence-based, and patient-centric care to individuals with specific needs. In this assessment, the roles and responsibilities of different regulatory bodies and healthcare professionals have been discussed thoroughly. Apart from that, in this report, highlight has also been given on the importance of integrating inter-professional, and multi-disciplinary teams to further strengthen the healthcare system.

References

• Aziza, F.N., (2020). Review and Comparison of Food Drug Administration (FDA) and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Implementation. Majalah Farmaseutik, 18(2), pp.236-240.
• Bach-Mortensen, A., Goodair, B. and Degli Esposti, M., (2024). Involuntary closures of for-profit care homes in England by the Care Quality Commission. The Lancet Healthy Longevity, 5(4), pp.e297-e302.
• Carron, T., Rawlinson, C., Arditi, C., Cohidon, C., Hong, Q.N., Pluye, P., Gilles, I. and Peytremann-Bridevaux, I., (2021). An overview of reviews on interprofessional collaboration in primary care: effectiveness. International journal of integrated care, 21(2).
• Cheluvappa, R. and Selvendran, S., (2020). Medical negligence-Key cases and application of legislation. Annals of Medicine and Surgery, 57, pp.205-211.
• Fernandopulle, N., (2021). To what extent does hierarchical leadership affect health care outcomes?. Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 35, p.117.
• Heron, R.L. and Eisma, M.C., (2021). Barriers and facilitators of disclosing domestic violence to the healthcare service: a systematic review of qualitative research. Health & Social Care in the Community, 29(3), pp.612-630.
• Htay, M. and Whitehead, D., (2021). The effectiveness of the role of advanced nurse practitioners compared to physician-led or usual care: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 3, p.100034.
• Karas, M., Sheen, N.J., North, R.V., Ryan, B. and Bullock, A., (2020). Continuing professional development requirements for UK health professionals: a scoping review. BMJ open, 10(3), p.e032781.
• Konrad, S.C., (2020). Interprofessional collaborative practice. In Encyclopedia of Social Work.
• Leigh, J.A., Lyons, G., Houston, L. and Littlewood, L.J., (2020). Health education England: workforce transformation-proposal for funding-Greater Manchester placement provider and HEI collaborative: implementation and evaluation of the synergy model for promoting effectiveness in learning in practice through coaching.
• Morrison, I., Cork, H., Smith, P., Campbell, C., McTiernan, M. and White, K., (2020). Is the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulator Agency (MHRA) guidance on sodium valproate acceptable to women of childbearing age?. Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 50(2), pp.114-117.
• Nandra, R., Ahmed, U., Berryman, F., Brash, L., Dunlop, D. and Matharu, G., (2020, July). HOW MUCH DOES A MEDICAL AND HEALTHCARE PRODUCTS REGULATORY AGENCY (MHRA) MEDICAL DEVICE ALERT FOR METAL-ON-METAL HIP ARTHROPLASTY PATIENTS REALLY COST?. In Orthopaedic Proceedings (Vol. 102, No. SUPP_5, pp. 21-21). Bone & Joint.
• Offen, J., (2015). The role of UK district nurses in providing care for adult patients with a terminal diagnosis: a meta-ethnography. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 21(3), pp.134-141.
• Rayner, M., (2022). The Care Quality Commission: A Regulatory Evolution. Judicial Review, 27(2), pp.126-131.
• Rowan, B.L., Anjara, S., De Brún, A., MacDonald, S., Kearns, E.C., Marnane, M. and McAuliffe, E., (2022). The impact of huddles on a multidisciplinary healthcare teams' work engagement, teamwork and job satisfaction: A systematic review. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 28(3), pp.382-393.
• Schilling, S., Armaou, M., Morrison, Z., Carding, P., Bricknell, M. and Connelly, V., (2022). Understanding teamwork in rapidly deployed interprofessional teams in intensive and acute care: A systematic review of reviews. PLoS One, 17(8), p.e0272942.
• Schot, E., Tummers, L. and Noordegraaf, M., (2020). Working on working together. A systematic review on how healthcare professionals contribute to interprofessional collaboration. Journal of interprofessional care, 34(3), pp.332-342.
• Shadmanov, A.K., Okhunov, A.O. and Bobokulova, S.A., 2023. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS (LONDON, UK)?: RESULTS OF THE VISIT. JOURNAL OF EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE, 1(3), pp.2-10.
• Sull, A., Harland, N. and Moore, A., (2015). Resilience of health-care workers in the UK; a cross-sectional survey. Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 10, pp.1-8.
• Swanson, M., Wong, S.T., Martin‐Misener, R. and Browne, A.J., (2020). The role of registered nurses in primary care and public health collaboration: a scoping review. Nursing open, 7(4), pp.1197-1207.
• Tadic, V., Ashcroft, R., Brown, J.B. and Dahrouge, S., (2020). The role of social workers in interprofessional primary healthcare teams. Healthcare Policy, 16(1), p.27.
• Taylor, B., Cross-Sudworth, F., Goodwin, L., Kenyon, S. and MacArthur, C., (2019). Midwives’ perspectives of continuity based working in the UK: a cross-sectional survey. Midwifery, 75, pp.127-137.
• van Diggele, C., Roberts, C., Burgess, A. and Mellis, C., (2020). Interprofessional education: tips for design and implementation. BMC Medical Education, 20(Suppl 2), p.455.
• Wise, J., (2024). Care Quality Commission branded “not fit for purpose” as review finds “significant failings”.
• Woo, M.W.J. and Avery, M.J., (2021). Nurses’ experiences in voluntary error reporting: an integrative literature review. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 8(4), pp.453-469.
• Woolf, K., Melbourne, C., Bryant, L., Guyatt, A.L., McManus, I.C., Gupta, A., Free, R.C., Nellums, L., Carr, S., John, C. and Martin, C.A., (2021). The United Kingdom Research study into Ethnicity And COVID-19 outcomes in Healthcare workers (UK-REACH): protocol for a prospective longitudinal cohort study of healthcare and ancillary workers in UK healthcare settings. BMJ open, 11(9), p.e050647.