Legal and Ethics in Health and Social Care

LEGAL AND ETHICS IN HEALTH AND
SOCIAL CARE 1
LEGAL AND ETHICS IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
Student’s Name
Course Name
Professor’s Name
University Name
City, State
Date

LEGAL AND ETHICS IN HEALTH AND
SOCIAL CARE 2
LEGAL AND ETHICS IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
Accountability has become a significant issue in health and social care. Professional
standards and codes make professionals in the health and social care fields personally
accountable for their omissions and actions during the provision of care. Such codes and
standards of practice ensure that the rights of patients, family members, carers and other
members of professional teams in health and social care settings are catered for Moriarty, J.,
2013. Accountability is therefore concerned with the actions and omissions in the provision of
care.it enhances adherence to professional codes. Generally, accountability is concerned with
three areas. It requires individuals to be aware of and responsible for their own educational needs
and competence. Secondly, it also touches on teams with respect to issues such as skill mix of
staff and delegation to ensure that teams are adequately prepared to deliver efficient care in their
assigned responsibilities. Thirdly, it also focuses on the wider organizational issues. In particular,
it focuses on the availability of governance and reporting arrangements as well as appropriate
procedures and policies within an organization (Effective Practitioner, 2019).
Accountability is simply the act of taking responsibility for an individual’s actions and
prioritizing the interests of patients. Accountability in the healthcare field also entails ensuring
that healthcare professionals are competent to handle roles and responsibilities assigned to them.
Therefore, healthcare professionals need to be in a position to justify whatever they do in the
course of carrying out their responsibilities. As part of being accountable in whatever they do,
healthcare professionals should be aware of why they are doing it. In addition, they should be
appropriately trained and evaluated as having the necessary competence to do it (Royal College
of Nursing, 2019). Finally, whatever they do should be in accordance with the agreed plan of
patient care. In essence, individuals working under a supervisor in a team are accountable for
what they do within their teams. Accountability recognizes the fact that the actions of a
healthcare professional may cause harm to patients. This is so particularly in cases where there
are omissions on the part of the care provider or where the care provider is not competent or

LEGAL AND ETHICS IN HEALTH AND
SOCIAL CARE 3
careful. This could lead to potential harm to patients. Therefore, this means that healthcare
providers are legally accountable for any errors made, harm caused or any omissions in the
course of service provision. In extreme cases where a patient dies or is harmed due to the
omission of healthcare providers, justice may be sought in court (Royal College of Nursing,
2019).
Caregivers are not only accountable to their patients but also to their employers and the
professional code of conduct for healthcare workers. By being accountable to the employer,
healthcare providers are required to carry out their assigned duties and responsibilities effectively
and safely. In the case of non-adherence to these requirements, the employer may enforce
disciplinary action. The employers must, however, ensure that they provide the healthcare
providers with the necessary support required to enhance effective and safe delivery of care. This
may be done by making clear the duties of a health care provider and availing the required
training, providing adequate supervisory support and availing the necessary protocols.
Compliance with the code of conduct relevant to the health and social care practice is also part of
being accountable (Royal College of Nursing, 2019).
Accountability plays a major role in health and social care practice. Most importantly,
accountability leads to the protection of healthcare workers, employers, and patients from unsafe,
negligent and bad practice (Royal College of Nursing, 2019 b). It, therefore, enables
organizations to provide quality care, minimizes the misuse of resources and improves the trust
between patients and physicians. On the same note, a lack of accountability in health and social
care practice may lead to huge damage to organizations and individual's careers (PowerDMS,
2019).
Accountability among health and social care practitioners entails certain aspects
referred to as pillars of accountability. The first pillar of accountability is responsibility. It