Introduction to Professional Practice

This document provides an introduction to professional practice in health and social care, focusing on its importance and impact on patient care. It discusses the relevant UK legislation and policies that govern professional practice and explores a case study involving a 68-year-old Alzheimer's patient. The case study highlights the challenges faced due to cultural and language differences and the positive impact of implementing policies and legislation on patient care and welfare services.

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Introduction to Professional Practice
Introduction
Professional Practice in health and social care
is related to catering to the needs of individuals who
need medical or communal help (Crane and et. al.,
2019). The poster below highlights an episode of care
involving a 68 year old Alzheimer’s patient in
relation to C ommunity Service within NHS England.
Patient and Episode of Care
The episode of care is during my community
placement in a welfare home which was affiliated by
National Health Service (NHS). Moreover, it includes
a patient named Whang, who was a 68 year old
patient in the facility suffering from Alzheimer’s
disease. The episode involves a significant amount of
neglect and carelessness shown by the staff in context
of treatment of Whang due to him belonging to
different culture and having different dialect.
Linking Key points from the policy to the
Episode
The policy which could be linked to this
episode of care above is related to National
Policy within Community Service that is
followed by NHS. This policy emphasises upon
system-based planning, along with collaborative
working and integrated care systems directed
towards patient and transforming the way
healthcare is provided to individuals (Devlin and
et. al., 2018).
This relates with the quality of care as
while the same has been implemented in case of
other patients, it wasn’t such a case with Whang.
I found the reason for the same is Whang’s
dialect of English was not too clear, considering
it was not his first language, which made it
difficult for the staff to cooperate with him and
his health and social requirements. Therefore, he
started to face brief but evident level of
discrimination and neglect from the staff during
the practice, making no relation between what
the policy said and what was implemented.

Relevant UK legislation and how it impacted the
Episode of Care
The relevant UK legislation in regards to this
is Equality Act, 2010, which makes the health
organisations obligated towards giving a fair and
equal treatment to patients irrespective of their social
and regional origins and difference in language or
culture (Pearson and Watson, 2018). This has a direct
linkage with the case, considering the fact that he was
not getting adequate and integrated treatment due to
cultural and lingual differences. Therefore, while it
was positively related to the policy mentioned above
as it promoted equal and best practice, it has a
negative relationship with the practice (Keown and
et. al., 2018). However, after its implementation, the
staff members were forced to take necessary training
in order to communicate with Whang and other cross-
cultured individuals and it made them provide best
treatment to these patients.
Impact of Policy and Legislation on the Care
These could be linked with the quality
indicators within health and social care sector of
the country, which currently revolves around
domains such as Effectiveness, Efficiency, Equity,
Safety, Timeliness, Patient-centeredness (Hindi,
Jacobs and Schafheut, 2019). Therefore, based on
these indicators the policy and legislation
mentioned above had a very positive impact on this
episode of care, considering the fact that it
provided Whang with a safe, equal, efficient and
effective environment and healthcare services after
the implementation of these aspects.
Conclusion
Thus, it is concluded from the poster that
professional practice in adherence to policies and
legislation is highly crucial to provide patients with
immense community service and enhanced welfare
services. It is imperative to compare the practices
with policies and several acts in order to ensure
effective alignment in the same or possible
improvements.
References
Books and Journals
Crane, L., and et. al., 2019. ‘Something needs to
change’: Mental health experiences of young
autistic adults in England. Autism. 23(2).
pp.477-493.
Devlin, N.J., and et. al., 2018. Valuing health‐related
quality of life: An EQ‐5 D‐5 L value set for E
ngland. Health economics. 27(1). pp.7-22.
Hindi, A.M., Jacobs, S. and Schafheutle, E.I., 2019.
Solidarity or dissonance? A systematic review
of pharmacist and GP views on community
pharmacy services in the UK. Health & social
care in the community. 27(3). pp.565-598.
Keown, P., and et. al., 2018. Changes in the use of the
Mental Health Act 1983 in England 1984/85
to 2015/16. The British Journal of
Psychiatry. 213(4). pp.595-599.
Pearson, C. and Watson, N., 2018. Implementing
health and social care integration in Scotland:
Renegotiating new partnerships in changing
cultures of care. Health & Social Care in the
community. 26(3). pp.e396-e403.
Online:
PDA Developing Professional Practice in Health and
Social Care. 2020. [Online] Available
Through:<
https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/70027.html >.
M.A. in Clinical Supervision in Professional Practice.
2017. [Online] Available Through:<
https://ichas.ie/m-clinical-supervision-
professional-practice/>.