Principles for implementing duty of care in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings
Unit 13

1.1 Duty of Care means that I take on legal responsibilities to safeguard the welfare and well-being of the people in my care. This includes appropriate attention, watching out for potential hazards, preventing mistakes or accidents, and making wise choices about steps undertaken in a role. Every person in my care should be supported and enabled to live in an environment which is free from prejudice and safe from abuse. My responsibilities under the duty of care are to do everything reasonable within my job role to make this happen.
1.2 By ensuring risk assessments are been carried out within a setting to make sure all equipment is safe and checked yearly. Assessing the setting and making sure there are no potential hazards like hazard materials being left out or electrical sockets being left uncovered. Ensuring the setting is clean to stop the spread of infection. That food is stored properly to stop cross-infection and the kitchen is always clean to stop the spread of bacteria and germs.
2.1 Sometimes individuals may want to do something which could be a risk to their Health and safety. As a carer you have a duty of care to that person and you must do all that you can to keep them safe but you also have a duty to respect the individual’s rights and choice, so you have a dilemma. It could be that the individual no longer wishes to use her walking frame, but her care plan states that she needs it to move from place to place and you are to ensure you encourage its use. In this scenario you could carry out a risk assessment to ensure that it is managed as safely as possible.
2.2 It is cold, windy and raining outside - the members wants to go outside with no coat on. You advise them about the weather conditions and explain they should wear a coat so they don’t get ill. You should make a note of it in the member’s personal file in the members note section.
2.3 You would need to explain the risks involved to the individual and make sure they understand. You could come to a compromise, to use a stick for a while instead, to see how they managed, then monitor the situation. All this should be documented including any risk assessment carried out. If the individual still insists on walking unaided you should get them to