11 Duty of care is what you have to abide by within the

1.1. Duty of care is what you have to abide by within the Healthcare setting it is a legal obligation that patients are protected and looked after whilst in your care. You must make sure that you are doing everything in your power to look after the physical and mental health of the patients and a few examples of how I demonstrate this in my place of work is that I provide dignity and privacy in clinics, this is because when the consultant asks the patients to get changed for examination I advise them to go behind the curtain undress from the waist down and leave their top half on, lay on the bed and cover themselves with the dignity sheet that I have provided for them on the bed, then let me know when they are ready to allow them the privacy to change by themselves, unless they need assistance.

This makes patients more relaxed knowing that they are not going to be laying there totally exposed and being told what to do avoids any awkward situations for the patients if they didn't know what to do.

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I also have a duty of care to myself and the patients to wear my PPE [Personal Protective Equipment] to stop any chance of infection spreading as PPE is an effective barrier from bodily fluids such as saliva, urine and blood borne pathogens, If they are used and disposed of correctly and It is vital to constantly wash your hands thoroughly before and after patient contact.

I demonstrate this by always wearing my gloves and apron whilst providing personal care and washing my hands before and after I put my gloves on and touching the patient. I also always wear my gloves whilst taking bloods and making sure my hands are as sterile as possible to avoid cross contamination.

Moreover, I have a duty of care to work within my job role, abiding by the 6 C's, making sure I am up to date with training, as there may be new skills and knowledge to learn and follow and recognising if a task I have been asked to do is out of my capability as a healthcare assistant and escalate to your senior colleagues so they can find a member of staff who is competent to complete the task at hand. This is showing that I understand the limitations to my job role within my code of conduct and I am working openly and co-operatively with other members of staff to ensure the safe delivery of high quality care instead of completing a task I am not trained or competent to complete which could result in the wrong care being carried out.

Furthermore, it is within my agreed ways of working to report any concerns I may have to my manager or other departments if required. Such as, making sure equipment is in date and working and if they are not then they should be either disposed of, if they are disposable or reported to MEMS [Medical Equipment Management Services] if a particular piece of equipment needs fixing. This stops situations occurring like, if you did not dispose of or report the faulty equipment and left them in circulation and doctors try to use these it could cause samples being rejected for suspected cancer patients if the swabs or histology pots have expired which will then cause a delay in diagnosis and treatment if the samples need repeating and also could cause harm to the patients if a piece of medical equipment is broken. We all have a duty of care to ensure that everyone is safe and that we provide the highest quality of care possible.