Importance of Health and Safety Policies in Healthcare

This report emphasizes the significance of health and safety care policies in the healthcare sector. It stresses the importance of modifying policies according to situation requirements and setting priorities for delivering best possible treatments to patients. Conducting an effective risk assessment is also crucial as it helps medical staff understand situations and find preventive measures.

Health and Safety in the
Health and Social Care
Workplace.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Covered in PPT.......................................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................1
2.1 Analyse how information from risk assessment informs care planning for individuals and
organisational decision making about policies and procedures.............................................1
2.2 Analyse the impact of one aspect of health and safety policy on health and social care
practice and its customers.......................................................................................................2
2.3 Discuss how dilemmas encountered in relation to implementing systems and policies for
health, safety and security may be addressed.........................................................................3
2.4 Analyse the effect of non-compliance with health and safety legislation in a health and
social care workplace.............................................................................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
3.1 Explain how health and safety policies and practices are monitored and reviewed........4
3.2 Analyse the effectiveness of health and safety policies and practices in the workplace in
promoting a positive health and safety culture.......................................................................4
3.3 Evaluate own contribution to placing the health and safety needs of individuals at the
Centre of practice...................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................5
.........................................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Health Care is associated with diagnosis of a disease or illness together with its
prevention and cure. Health and safety is an essential element of healthcare sector whereby
practitioners and doctors take measures to assess as well as reduce workplace hazards. This
largely comprises of provision of training to healthcare professionals in terms of emergency
preparation, mitigation measures, prevention of accidents and effective use of healthcare
equipments. The present report is based upon NHS Trust which was created under the National
Health Service & Community Care Act, 1990. This report will explore various types of policies,
systems and procedures used to effectively communicate information so as to maintain health &
safety at workstation. It also gains an insight into impact of health & safety policy upon care
practices along with risk assessment. Besides this, effectiveness of policies in order to encourage
healthy and safety culture at workplace together with self contribution in this context have also
been included.
TASK 1
1.1 Review systems, policies and procedures for communicating information on health and social
care workplace in accordance with legislative requirements
Health and safety of employees at workplace is very important thing that is required by
every organisation to consider. It is required by every organisation to use adopt some new
policies and procedures in order to improve negative working condition of hospital. NHS is a
trust based healthcare system which provides medical services to legal residents of United
Kingdom at negligible prices or for free. In relation to the case scenario, it has been analysed
that Winchester and Eastleigh NHS Trust is facing some issues related to slips and trips due to
wet floors in the hospital. For this, it is required by the director of this trust to implement some
effective policies, procedures and systems so that information related to health and safety can
easily be communicated to staff members in effective manner. Some of them are defined as
below:
Emergency communication system: It is a computerised system which helps the user in
conveying urgent information to particular one staff member or whole in single attempt. As per
the given case scenario, NHS trust can adopt this system for informing staff member about health
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and safety and its related acts and legislations. It can be done effectively by using video, live
communication in conference hall, text messages, etc.
Telemedicine and teleconsultation: It is an electronic based communication system
which is helpful for healthcare sector while communicating to their employees without facing
any barrier related to distance. In this system, volunteer basically communicate relevant
information to the staff members through telephone in order to educate them.
Usage of simple but clear language: It is essential for the director of Winchester and
Eastleigh NHS Trust to use policy of communication I.e. using simple but clear language so that
staff member of the this trust can understand main purpose of the interaction which will help in
reducing slip and trips problem due to wet floor.
Vertical procedure: It is a kind of hierarchy procedure by which management team can
communicate the desired information to its staff member. As per the specified case scenario of
NHS, it is the best procedure which can be adopted by director of this healthcare sector in order
to communicate information regarding health and safety to staff members. The director is
required to convey the information in a systematic procedure that is top management to middle,
middle level to lower one. This procedure will help in transferring relevant knowledge regarding
slip and trip issue and its prominent solution by it could be minimised.
As per the above specified policies, procedures and systems, it can be said that
Winchester and Eastleigh NHS Trust can reduce its slips and trips problem that are being faced
by them from last two years with proper communication method.
1.2 Assess the responsibilities in a specific health and social care workplace for the management
of health and safety in relation to organisational structure
Health and social care safety is considered as the crucial part of every organisation as it
helps in developing positive working environment at workplace. In context to the given case
scenario, it has been analysed that the trust is facing issues related improper method of
cleanliness which leads to increase some harmful incident like slips and trips. These accidents
might impact negatively on life of medical staff. Thus, it is the responsibility of the management
team of NHS trust to provide safe working environment to employees so that they could perform
their job responsibility effectively. Some of the main responsibility which are required to be
played by management team of NHS trust are defined below:
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Monitor clinical standards: It is the first and foremost responsibility of the management
team to check that whether their hospital staff are meeting up clinical standard or not. Therefore,
it is required to by them to analyse working activities of each and medical staff and check that
they are meeting up their preset standards or not. If in case staff members are not not able to
meet it up then they should be guided to do it.
Modify policies and procedure: It is not possible for any healthcare company to go for a
long run with same policies and procedure. Therefore, it is the responsibility of management
team of NHS trust to modify their present policies and procedures in order to improve their
working environment. As per the given scenario, the management team of NHS is required to
change their policies for cleaning staff for minimising the chances of slip and trip due wet
surface. This will help in minimising number of slipping accidents in hospital.
From the above specified responsibilities of management team of NHS trust, it can be
said that if follow plays their responsibilities effectively then it will be easier for them to create
safe working environment for the employees.
1.3 Analyse health and safety priorities appropriate for a specific health and social care
workplace
Working life in a healthcare sector involve various priorities which are being set by a
medical practitioners as per the requirement of the time. It is essential for medical staff to
initially analyse overall situation or problems of patient and after that only they should go for
further treatment. In relation to treatment of children, priorities of the paediatric are completely
different. Some of the main priorities of NHS paediatric are defined as below:
Provide hygienic environment: The first priority of medical staff is to maintain
cleanliness in the hospital so that their child patient can get hygiene treatment. It will also help
patient in recovering soon in good environment.
Provide proper medication: The next priority of medical practitioners is to firstly
analyse that the disease or problems of child and after that only they should give them best
possible and effective treatment which will contribute in their recovery.
Convey all actual medical scene to guardian: Another priority of medical practitioners
of children is to convey each and every detail of child to their guardian related to health. This is
because, children are very small and they are not able to take right decision at their own level.
Therefore, it is mandatory for paediatric to share every information with their parents.
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TASK 2
2.1 Analyse how information from risk assessment informs care planning for individuals and
organisational decision making about policies and procedures
Risk assessment plays a crucial role for medical practitioner in serving treatment to the
patient. It provides relevant time to the medical staff analyse the situation at initial level and after
that identify required alternate option for the same. It can be said that, information which has
been gathered through risk assessment, may aid care planner in taking right decisions. (Lennard
and et. al., 2016). As per the given case scenario of risk assessment and process planning for
bariatrics patient handling, it has been analysed that the information which is being gathered by
medical practitioners helps in treating bariatrics patient properly.
It can be said appropriate risk management guides medical practitioner of bariatrics
patient to provide treatment by following each and every policy. By conducting an effective risk
assessment medical staff can take immediate action on the instant and emergency situations. For
example: if Medical staff is providing treatment to the obese people then risk assessment will
help them out in identifying possible issue or diseases which might affect them while taking
medication. Like obese people might not be able to handle heavy drug dose due to health
conditions. There are more possible issues which can be easily assessed by medical staff by
assessing risk in advance only. Therefore, with the prior assessment these practitioners also has
some solution which can be adopted by them at the time of its requirement. As a result, it
improves their efficiency of treatment and decision making capability in emergency situations.
RISK ASSESSMENT TABLE
Identify the
hazard
Step 1
Decide who
might be
harmed and
how
Step 2
Evaluate the
risk and decide
on precautions
High, Medium
or Low
Record your
findings and
implement them
Step 4
Review your
risk and update
if necessary
Step
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Step 3
Lack of Bariatic
policy
It would impact
negatively on
extra overweight
or obese patients
as their excessive
fat does not
allow them to
recover soon.
High
Obese people
suffers from
various health
related diseases
that is harmful
for their life.
Along with this,
it might even not
allow them to
perform their
day to day tasks.
This risk could
be minimised by
adopting Bariatic
policy and doing
exercise on
regular basis.
It has been
identified that
lack of Bariatic
policy is serious
issue and it is
required medical
practitioners and
hospitals to
adopt these
policies in order
to overcome this
problem.
GE- 14/02/2019
Improper
management of
records
Improper
management
records will
impact
negatively on
hospital's work
as they would not
be able to keep
records of their
patients
High
Risk level of this
hazard is very
high. This is
because if
medical
practioner will
not have correct
past history
record of
It has been
identified that
management
expertise is
required by
hospital's in
order to maintain
their records at
regular basis.
GE- 14/02/2019
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medication and
treatment. As a
result, it patient
will not recover
soon.
employee then
there are
probable chances
that patient may
loosing his life
due to wrong
treatment.
This situation
can be improved
by hiring
management
expertise who
could handle all
records and
safely save them
at regular basis.
2.2 Analyse the impact of one aspect of health and safety policy on health and social care
practice and its customers
Health and safety policies are mainly formulated for the betterment of carers as well as
patients. These policies guides medical practitioner to provide effective treatment to patient by
following all clinical guidance (Lindahl and et al., 2013). At the same time, it is beneficial for
patient too because they are getting good level of treatment increases their speed of recovery. In
context to obese patients, impact of health and safety policy that is improvement safety
equipment on the practice of carers and patients are different. Analysis of its impact on both are
defined as below:
Impact of health and safety on carers practice
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Improvement in safety equipment directly enhances accountability of the medical
practitioner. It means according to this policy, medical cares are now accountable to the hospital
for their treatment which is provided by them to the obese patient. By improving their safety
equipments they can improves their practising method and provide safe treatment to patients
(Paterson, 2017). As a result, it improves level of quality treatment of medical staff which
reflects positive impact of adoption of improved safety equipments.
Impact of health and safety on patients
In context to the obese patients, it can be said that improvement in safety equipments
helps patient in meeting their own needs like an obese patient requires additional care after
surgery. So, if quality of safety equipments improves then it will ultimately deliver best
treatment to patient. Thus, it has been observed that improvement in safety equipments impacts
positively on obese patients as it helps them in meeting up their personal medical need.
2.3 Discuss how dilemmas encountered in relation to implementing systems and policies for
health, safety and security may be addressed
Dilemma can be seen as the difficult situation in which an individual gets confused to
overcome the similar situation with the help of alternative options. The issue mainly occurs
because of these alternative options whose outcomes are unfavourable. In relation to the case
study of NHS trust related bariatrics policy, it has been analysed that it is essential for medical
practitioners to follow each and every policy while providing treatment to the obese patients.
But, in this dilemma of an individual plays an essential role because many times their own
perception does meet with the legal systems and policies of their healthcare sector. It has been
observed that there are some regulatory bodies like NICE (National Institute for Health and
Clinical excellence) who formulates quality standard for healthcare practitioners which advices
and guides healthcare practitioners (Rainnie, 2016). This directs medical practitioners to provide
effective treatment to the patient in every case. Additionally, it has been analysed that these
medical practitioners has their own principles too like dignity, honesty, independence, working
procedures, communication methodology etc. Thus, it can be said that these principles of
medical practitioners creates a dilemma for individual while providing treatment to the obese
patients. Therefore, it is suggested to medical practitioner to follow all legal requirement and
policies while giving treatment to the patient in effective manner. Further, they are also expected
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to adopt appropriate resources for the treatment which is cost beneficial for them and also
satisfies their policies of quality treatments.
2.4 Analyse the effect of non-compliance with health and safety legislation in a health and social
care workplace
Non compliance with health and safety legislation care at work place means that medical
staff does not follows legal laws related to this sector. In context to health and social care at
workplace, it can be said that effect of non compliance of health and safety legislation can be
seen in many forms such as disciplinary action, fines, prosecution etc. These effects are
described as below:
Disciplinary action: It has been observed that if medical staff of NHS Trust does not
follows health and safety legislation then regulatory bodies can take any disciplinary action
towards them (Ruwanpura, 2013). It can be in the form of legal action like suspension of medical
license, legal case, closure of hospital etc. It has been analysed that all of these actions
disciplinary actions directly impacts negatively on the good will of the NHS trust. Along with
this, it also reduces interest of patients towards the healthcare institutions.
Fines: It is the another effect of non compliance of healthcare legislation. In this, when
any medical practitioners is caught as practising by abiding legal laws then they have to pay
monetary fine to the regulatory bodies or government.
TASK 3
3.1 Explain how health and safety policies and practices are monitored and reviewed.
Surrey and Sussex NHS Trust which provides vast range of clinical and non clinical
services. In context to case study, it has been analysed that Senior Back Care Advisor(BCA)
have started a project for identifying potential clinical risk related to the equipments. In present
context, within Surrey and Sussex NHS Trust health and safety policies or practises are basically
reviewing potential risk by adopting some methods which are defined as below:
Workplace Inspections: This policy is basically rely upon physical observation linked to
the living areas. Here, it is being found that these section's gets investigated through supervisors
or staff managers. If it is talked about Winchester and Eastleigh NHS Trust, it is required for
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them to develop an effective workstation related inspection. It also requires realistic
measurement based records that includes work area.
Audit: Surrey and Sussex can also use audit for their health and safety policies in order
to review potential risks related to equipments. It can be said that by conducting an effective
audit on equipments they can easily identify whether they are in the condition of use or not. And,
in case if they found that their condition is not in right condition then they can replace them in
advance.
As per the above specified methods of review and monitoring, it can be said that by
using both of methods Surrey and Sussex NHS trust can easily identify equipment oriented risk.
They can also improve level of quality treatment which is being provided by them to patients.
3.2 Analyse the effectiveness of health and safety policies and practices in the workplace in
promoting a positive health and safety culture.
Effectiveness of health and safety policies helps healthcare sector in creating positive
working environment for the medical staff. This leads to develop a positive health and safety
culture because by following each and every policy organisation belongs to healthcare sector can
resolve issues and problems at the very first stage only. In context to the given case scenario of
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, it can be said that medical staff of this healthcare
sector can minimise its issues and problems by conducting an audit or investigation session
(Shea and et. al., 2016). As a result, the trust can easily minimise its number of issues by
following all health and safety policies. It is because; all medical practitioners and related
persons are performing their working within the preset systems. Along with this, it can be said
that by monitoring reviewing work of staff members at regular basis desired changes could be
implemented in the same sector which ultimately improves safety culture too.
3.3 Evaluate own contribution to placing the health and safety needs of individuals at the Centre
of practice.
According to my overall experience at workplace, it has been observed by me that for
fulfilling needs of each and every individual of healthcare sector a proper communication
channel is essentially required by them. This is because, it helps them in communicating with
each other in order to deliver best possible services to patients. It has been analysed by me that it
is the responsibility of the management team to initially monitor and review working capabilities
of medical staff in order to check that whether they are following all health and safety policies or
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not (Shatkin and Kim, 2015). This helps them out in improving workplace culture and also
contributes in minimising chances of any kind of misconduct by medical staff. Along with this, it
has been further realised by me that all health and safety legislation should be strictly compliance
for developing a good health and social care workplace for all. This can be easily done by strictly
following system, policies and procedure of health and social care.
CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned report it is concluded that health and safety care policies is
very important in healthcare sector as it helps them in providing effective services to the patients.
It has been analysed that it is important for healthcare sector to modify their policies and
procedure according to the requirement of situation. Further, it has been observed that, its
important for medical practitioners to set their criteria for priorities in order to deliver best
possible treatments to patient. It can be said that conducting an effective risk assessment of
situation is very important because it helps medical staff to understand whole situation first and
after that find out possible preventive measures which can be taken by them at time of
emergence situation.
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Online
Risk management in healthcare. 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/risk-management-healthcare-information-
technology-projects-7408>
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