Effective Handling of Information in Health and Social Care

Effective handling of
information in health
and social care

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Identify legislation and codes of practice in relation with gathering all information in relation
with social and health care..........................................................................................................3
Different legal requirements and codes of practice for holding information in health and social
care..............................................................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
Describe how manual and electronic information storage systems are securely maintained.....5
Describe practices that assures security while assessing and storing information......................5
Importance of maintaining records that are up to date, accurate, legible and complete.............6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
Explain the meaning of confidentiality.......................................................................................6
How to promote and maintain confidentiality in day to day communication.............................6
Potential tension between disclosing information and maintaining an individual’s
confidentiality.............................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Health and social care is defined as the treatment of all medical conditions in relation
with hospitals, various health care centres. In accordance with social care it is defined as the care
as well as support of vulnerable individuals been present in society. Effective handling of
necessary information in both social as well as health care can be done with the help of different
methods like disclosing the information of only those people who use services in terms of social
and health care in relation with agreed ways of working as well as legislation. (Mussetti, A., and
et.al, 2020). The below report involves the handling of information practice requirements in
health and social care settings, good practice in terms of handling information and practices in
context with confidentiality.
TASK 1
Identify legislation and codes of practice in relation with gathering all information in relation
with social and health care
While handling information in health and social care the legislation of data protection act
is used. The act established in 1984 and gets updated in relation with the up gradation in
technologies. It provides the right to an individual to keep their data secure and is used only
when it is collected. There are certain principles been involved in data protection act like the data
must be fair and lawful, minimum amount of personal data should be gathered and it must be
accurate as it lies in context with health and social care (Pollock and et.al, 2020). There is also
human right act, 1988 which is defined as the basic rights as well as freedoms which belong to
each individual. In context with health and social care there are different human rights which are
important while receiving such services and these are the right to respect for private and family
life, the right to liberty and the right to life. In terms of right to family and private life, it means
that people should respect life choices and their privacy. In terms of this legislation it protects an
individual when they are placed in a care home, when a person wants to discuss their medical
problem in private and so on. In health and social care services the carer’s code of practice is
chosen which is provided by GSCC. It implements different standards of practice as well as
behaviour for all workers who are employed in health acre field who handles all necessary
information and maintains confidentiality. There are different other legal sources also which are
determined with the help of common law as well as rulings of individual cases.

Different legal requirements and codes of practice for holding information in health and social
care
The main legal requirements which are necessary while handling information with
respect to health and social care are defined as below:-
 The data must be fair and it should be processed further as per laws. In health and social
care it is necessary that data is accurate because it's a legal care service which is the most
important for an individual.
 The personal data should not be kept by care services for a long period of time. It should
be kept only till it is needed (Männistö and et.al, 2020).
 The data should not get transferred to other cities without effective protection as it
contains personal details.
There are various codes of practice which need to be followed while handling information in
health and social care services which is been explained as below:-
 As per data protection act, 1998 it is the most important code of practice in care services
and it is defined as the act to safeguard necessary information from issues like corruption,
loss or even a compromise(Ataguba and Ataguba, ,2020). It is necessary in health and
social care in order to protect both patients as well as the organisations also. As all
records been gathered includes both facts and professional opinions in relation with the
health of an individual.
 As in terms of caldecott principles, it is defined as various elements that organisations
must follow in order to protect data which can be used to identify a patient like in context
with their name as well as their other personal information. It depends on different
principles like less amount of information should be used as per the details and
justification must be given before collecting personal information.
TASK 2
Describe how manual and electronic information storage systems are securely maintained
With respect to care services it is important that the storage systems are maintained
properly because it contains many details which are important for an individual. There are
different methods through manual and electronic information systems are secured and it is
further been explained as below:-

 The storage systems assures security by using passwords through which data is kept
protected and people who don't have any kind of authority don't get access to it.
 In the area of cabinet the maintenance is done with the help of confidential papers and it
gets only opened when it's needed (Güeita-Rodriguez and et.al, 2020). It is very
important as well as necessary for health and social care services to protect their data.
 All meetings are organised into a complete different area where unauthorised people can't
come.
 There must be fire and security alarm which assures that the risk of fire and the people
who can take personal records get reduced. There must be a backup system through
which records can be protected well.
Describe practices that assures security while assessing and storing information
There are different practices which can be used in order to assure that there is security
while storing as well as accessing all kind of information. In terms of both social and health care
services security is the most necessary thing. The various practices are as follows:-
 The cabinet must have a lock and only authorised people can get entry with the help of
key or a digital badge (Elliott, Sinclair and Hesselgreaves, 2020). The area near the
cabinet must be fire as well as water resistant in order to provide safety from any kind of
damage that can arise in future.
 In context with electronic information systems all records should be there on computer
systems and must have access to specific individual only. The practice of granular
permissions can also be used so that only senior executives can read the data. To prevent
from the condition of data loss regular back-ups must be done because in health services
personal data of an individual should not be lost.
 The usage of telephonic conversations should not be used because it has assessed to
everyone and it can hear from any location. It becomes easy for an individual to
determine what exactly the information is all about.
Importance of maintaining records that are up to date, accurate, legible and complete
It is crucial for an organisation to maintain necessary accounts complete, up to date and
must be accurate. In health as well as social care services the correct information is to be used. In
context with up to date records there are different plans that get changed on continuous basis so
they must be continuously reviewed and old documents would create harm to an individual. In

health services medicines are always given as per today's condition. So, if there will be any old
data then it will be harmful for them (Schwarzer and Vallée, 2020). All data must be fully
complete to ensure that no information is missing in context with picture, signature. As it will
help in easily identifying about patient. The records must be accurate and no personal opinions
should be included. It should be easily understandable so that no issues get arise. If there are any
errors with respect to data then it should be deleted with a single line strike and no further
corrections should be made.
TASK 3
Explain the meaning of confidentiality
In context with health and social care facilities it basically means to respect other people
information. It means that executives should not share personal information with any other
person. There must be effective level of confidence between both patient as well as other
executive which may be a doctor, social workers, and employers and so on. There is much
legislation which comes under the category of confidentiality like as per the common law which
states that it is necessary to encourage an individual to describe their issues. For example, if an
individual faces any kind of issue or they become a victim then it’s a law that other people must
have all information with respect to that.
How to promote and maintain confidentiality in day to day communication
Confidentiality can be maintained by keeping personal records at a safe and secure place
where everyone don't have access to see the information(Belak and et.al, 2020). All discussions
with respect to details should be done at private space where there is no kind of risk. All
important envelopes and letters must be marked with the tag of private and confidential. If there
is any kind of compliance in terms of confidentiality then the executive must be informed
immediately.
Potential tension between disclosing information and maintaining an individual’s confidentiality
There can be three conditions while having potential tension which are with respect to
when a poor practice is been identified, when a child is at risk or when it is determined that crime
has been done. In terms of when child is at risk it relates to when there is concern about child's
welfare then confidentiality can be broken even if everything is to be kept in private. As the
concern is with respect to a child then care services must be immediately informed or if it is