Ethical Dilemmas in Healthcare

This assignment analyzes ethical challenges in healthcare, particularly emphasizing patient rights and the responsibilities of care providers. It uses the example of dementia patients refusing treatment to illustrate the conflict between respecting individual choices and ensuring necessary medical intervention. The document concludes by highlighting the importance of ethical principles in delivering quality care.

Principles of Health and Social Care
1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................3
Principles of support applied to ensure that individual are cared for in health and social care
practice.............................................................................................................................................3
Procedure for protecting clients, patients and colleagues from harm..............................................3
Advantage of person centric approach with the users of health and social care services................4
Ethical dilemmas and conflicts raise at the time of providing the services to the users..................4
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................................6
2

INTRODUCTION
The principles and values of health and social care helps in deliver the good healthcare
practices to the service users. It provides assistance in assessing the needs and requirements of
individual related care (Alhatmi, 2011). In this context, it is essential for the health care
practitioners to get the clear understanding about various principles of health and social care so that
quality of care services can be improved over the time. The present report is based on principles of
health and social care and to understand its importance, a case study of East and West Care Home,
London is taking into the consideration. It provides a care needs to vulnerable people who belongs
to different ethnic and religious background. After the visit of CQC, it has recorded that care home
has failed to deliver the adequate protection to the patients from diverse risks as well as staff
members also. Along with this, the planning of delivery care did not meet the individual needs
(Morgan, 2013).
TASK 1
Principles of support applied to ensure that individual are cared for in health and social care practice
As per the given case study, it has been found that East and West Care Home has failed to
deliver the right care services to its patients. Care home has also faced some other issues which can
only be resolved by different principles of support. It will help in to make sure about individual care
and improve health and social care practices of cited firm (Lloyd and Marjorie., 2010). By
maintaining privacy and dignity of every patient, East and West Care Home should protect the
rights of individual. For example, by giving them opportunities to spend the time according to them,
wearing dress, doing work as per their interest etc. On the other, care organization can use
independence principles of support at the time of delivering the care services to patients. By doing
this, it becomes easy to raise the moral and confidence level of individual and help in living them
independent life in the future. In addition to this, by maintaining diversity and individuality, East
and West Care Home can provide the right care services to diverse background and religion
vulnerable people (Keeling and et.al., 2013). The following principle of health and social care helps
in maintain the equality at the workplace and minimize the situation of discrimination at the time of
delivering health and care services.
Procedure for protecting clients, patients and colleagues from harm
According to the given case scenario, it has been determined that after the inspection CQC,
it has found that East and West Care Home has not delivered the adequate care and protecting
services to individual from the risks and other situations. In order to minimize the issues, a
3

systematic process can be followed to protecting clients, patients and colleagues from harm. In this
context, first stage is measuring risk in which different kinds of hazards will be assessed and
categorize them into financial, psychological, emotional and physical risk. Here, the reason of
occurrence of these risks and their impacts on individual will be enlisted in the documentation
(Heginbotham, 2012). Second phase is deciding who might be harmed and how from the identified
hazards. Under this, the persons who may be harm from the danger will determine with the level of
impact. Next stage is assessment of risks and determining the safeguards where an evaluation
process will take place. In this, each and every risk will be processed and arrange them according to
the impact and causes. After this, the actions which can be used to minimize the effect of various
hazards on patients, staff and clients of East and West Care Home will explore. By doing this, it
becomes easy to balance the risk level in the opposite of control measures (Emerson and et.al.,
2012). Last stage is documentation of the outcomes in which a complete document will prepare of
risk assessment process and actions to prevent services users and care workers of East and West
Care Home from the hazards.
Advantage of person centric approach with the users of health and social care services
Person centric approach is a method to modify the services as per the wants of the service
users with the aim of improving quality of final outcomes. By using person centric approach, East
and West Care Home can easily understand the needs and requirements of patients related to care
services. The advantage of this method to the cited care organization the care operations will be
easily customized as per the desires of individual. It will help in delivering the meaningful health
care services to care users. Along with this, person centric concept will assist in develop mutual
understanding between the health care professional and patients of East and West Care Home
(Preston-Shoot and Kline, 201). Beside this, the service users will able to explain their views and
perceptions with care workers in order to improve the health care services of care home.
Ethical dilemmas and conflicts raise at the time of providing the services to the users
he care workers of East and West Care Home have faced certain kinds of ethical dilemmas
and conflicts rise at the time of providing the services to the users. This can be understood by an
example. As per the law of the UK government, each and every person has the right to take decision
by its own in different situation (Care Act, 2014). At the time of treating the patient, many on the
time, service user such as dementia person etc can refuse to take medicine and other supportive
services. In this context, it is care worker responsibility to ensure that care user consumes the
medical facilities time to time to recover from the illness. During this, social worker also looks
towards the like and dislikes of the patient. Therefore, it is ethical dilemma for him he never forces
4

to individual to take medicine or treatment as well he cannot neglect his responsibilities. So, it is an
ethical dilemma for care worker and create conflict situation at the time of providing the services to
the users (Scott and Spouse, 2013).
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that principles of support has applied to ensure
that individual are cared in right manner. It has brought the improvement in health care services.
With the help of systematic process, care organization has protected its patients, workforce and
clients from the harm.
5

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alhatmi, Y., 2011. Safety as a hospital organizational priority: a case study. Clinical Governance:
An International Journal. 16(3). pp.203 – 219.
Emerson, E. and et.al., 2012. Improving health and lives: The Learning Disabilities Public Health
Observatory. Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities. 6(1). pp. 26–32.
Heginbotham, C., 2012. Values-Based Commissioning of Health and Social Care. Cambridge
University Press.
Keeling and et.al., 2013. How To Write Well: A Guide For Health And Social Care Students: A
Guide for Health and Social Care Students. McGraw-Hill International.
Lloyd and Marjorie., 2010. A Practical Guide To Care Planning In Health And Social Care.
McGraw-Hill International.
Morgan, G., 2013. Integration of health and social care – what can Wales learn … and contribute?
Quality in Ageing and Older Adults. 14(1). pp. 47–55.
Preston-Shoot, M. and Kline, R., 2012. Professional Accountability in Social Care and Health:
Challenging unacceptable practice and its management. Learning Matters.
Scott, L. and Spouse, J., 2013. Practice Based Learning in Nursing, Health and Social Care:
Mentorship, Facilitation and Supervision. John Wiley & Sons.
Online
Care Act. 2014. [Online]. Available through :<http://www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/>. [Accessed
on 10th October 2016].
6