Legal and Ethical Frameworks in Healthcare: An Overview

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LAW, POLICY AND ETHICAL PRACTICE IN
HEALTHCARE
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................................................... 3
LO1............................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
LO2............................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
LO3............................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
LO4............................................................................................................................................................................................ 10
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................................................. 13
REFERENCE................................................................................................................................................................................ 14
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INTRODUCTION
Health and social care authorities are regulated by the range of laws and policies when
working in health trust, hospital, and primary care and in any other public consultant
surroundings (Greer et al 2013). As well as who is also practising in a private firm,
volunteering as the non-profitable outcome will also have to keep and understand law
and policies in order to practice safely, ethically, legally and capable. In this assignment,
we will understand and develop knowledge and gratefulness of the need for the law,
policy and ethics in the practice in health and social care. In this, we will also able to
explore the legal structure in which HSC care specialists operate, the legislative,
national and organizational policy of importance to health and requirement of applying
the law and policy apply in the social and health care practices.
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LO1
The legal framework of health and social care practitioners is an outline which contains
a set of rules, procedural steps and common laws through which judgments can be
taken. The legislation is demarcated as a set of rules and regulations which are
provided and proposed by the government and legislative body to follow the wellbeing
and social care by every member of the health sector to promote health and safety to
the service users, service providers and to all the residents and individuals of the
country. The regulations are necessary for health and social care because a harmless
practice is very essential to promote self-worth in care. In the UK the Government and
Care Quality Commission accomplishes and manages every working of the organization
which are related to the health and social care sectors. As they maintain all the safety
procedures related to the health and safety of an individual (Hunter, 2016). A health
care legislation or a health law is the national, state and local; law, rules and regulations
between the dealers, spenders and retailers of the healthcare services and its patients.
In the legislation of HSC, there is a sum of legislative measure and regulations to
support health and safety at work. These regulations are intended to protect people in
work. There is a number of legislative measures and regulations to support the health
and safety at work. The policies are important in social and health care is to provide
calibration in regular functioning activities. The purpose of healthcare policy and actions
is to interconnect to its employees, patients and other service users as well as providers
to get the desired outcome of the organization. This helps to understand the roles and
responsibilities of the healthcare professionals of an organization.
The basic working of the legal system is explained by the sources of law and the
function of courts to understand the relationship between the legislation of human rights
and health care services. These include some laws they are; the rule of law, equity,
common law, guidance, constitutional understanding, the role of courts, secondary
legislation, statute law, public and private law and lastly declaration of incompatibility.
This is the legal working of the system. The regulation and the professions of the courts
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are as the starting point for the understanding of the connection between the human
right legislation and the care treatment of care services (Greer et al 2013).
In the UK there are 9 health care professional bodies which regulate the health and
social care practitioners (Lunt, Mannion and Exworthy, 2013). These are the following
nine professional bodies which regulate health and social care practitioners of the
Nation. They include GMC (General medical council) which regulates doctors; NMC
(Nursing and Midwifery Council) legalizes nurses and midwives, GDC (General
Dental Council) controls dental professionals in the UK, GOD (General Optical
Council) controls optometrists and dispensing opticians, GCC (General Chiropractic
Council) regulates chiropractors, GOsC (General Osteopathic Council) osteopaths,
GPC (General Pharmaceutical Council) sets pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and
pharmacy premises, HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council) the HCPC
regulates 15 healthcare professionals they are chiropodist, biomedical scientist,
occupational therapist, dieticians, orthoptists, radiographer, clinical scientist,
paramedics, hearing aid dispensers, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists,
operating department practitioners, art therapists and practitioner psychologists.
The term ethics is well-defined as a conventional of moral philosophies and principles.
The philosophies of behavior governing an individual or a particular group are called the
ethics of the system. It is said that health and wellbeing are the ones amongst the basic
need of a homosapien that impact the other factors of life. The administration of UK and
CQC (Care Quality Commission) copes to ensure that every wellbeing and social care
organization follows all the rules, regulations and policies to provide quality service to
the service user. The care act 2008 Was Health and Social Care Act 2008 was
announced to deliver care to the people whose main responsibility is to look after the
excellence and inspection of services provided in health and communal care sector
(Care Quality Commission, 2012). In this act, an amendment was made regarding
honesty when something wrong goes in the care of the people and in service. Another
act The Health and Safety Work Act 1974 introduced some rules and regulations for the
service providers, association as well as for service user in the case of social and health
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care to safeguard the care of the people of the organization (Channing, 2013). The
Human Rights Act 1998 is another act introduced by the government as a dominion of
the humanoid rights provided to the people of the country (Emmerson et al 2012). This
act should be claimed in every field of the nation including health and social care
sectors. The government of the UK has also introduced the law which is related to
intellectual capacity. This was named as Mental Capacity Act 2005. This act was for the
people who cannot take their own decision, as they are incapable to provide their
opinion in their care (Cave, 2014). The act ensures that the individual can be supported
in health and social care deprived of any questions and violations in their dignity and
basic human right. The mental capacity act focuses on the 5 phase wherever the
capability of an specific can be doubtful and uncertain and what to be done and how
these types of group or individuals can be supported in health and social care sectors.
The right to dignity, respect and empowerment are vital in ones to be tracked and
followed in health and social care scenery that will defend the service user against any
kind of destruction to their honesty and dignity. The special and different rules,
regulations and acts have been introduced by the government and legislation committee
of United Kingdom while per require to protection, defence and safeguarding the users
of health and social care in the wellbeing and communal care sectors. To deliver the
most favourable and optimum care to the individuals of the country, health and
communal care stakeholders has to implement all these acts, rules and legislation as
guided by the government.
LO2
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There are several legislation and acts in health and social care that guides a practitioner
and care staff in the sector. The beliefs to the quality and safety ensure that every
characteristic of healthcare ought to be tolerant and can revolve around the need of the
patient. Government plays an important role in order to promote quality services by its
legislation and policies. The legislation of health and safety includes the acts which are
key legislation and supporting legislation. These include:
Health and Social Care Act 2012
The Wellbeing and Communal Care Act 2012 familiarizes the chief legislative
responsibilities about health dissimilarities. It includes the exact duties for the health
bodies including the Constituent part of Health, Clinical Commissioning Groups,
Community Health England and NHS England which requires the bodies to have owed
concerns to reduce health inequality between the people of England. This act also
fetched changes for the local authorities (Speed and Gabe, 2013).
Equality Act 2010
This act was established in the year 2010 which creates equivalence liabilities for all
public segments bodies which aim to assimilate deliberation of the advancement of the
equality into the day to day commerce of all the bodies’ subjects to the duty ( Lockwood,
Henderson and Thornicroft, 2012). The Equality Act came into power from October
2010 provided that the up-to-date, solitary authorized frameworks with clear, simplified
law to more effectively tackle drawback and discrimination.
Social value Act 2012
This act was created to provide support as it also known as tributary legislation act. The
Social Value Act 2012 involves public sector representatives including local authorities
and the health sector bodies to consider monetary, environmental and economic
wellbeing in obtaining services. This act has created the social value which has vibrant
and pure influences with efforts to reduce health imbalances through action on the
communal elements of health (Social Enterprise, U.K., 2012)
The National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990
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Under this act, the National Healthiness Service and Public Care have created an Act
for the adults who are eligible that is aged 18 has right for a full assessment of their
needs and services provided from the local authorities ought to be individually
personalized to meet those assessed needs ( NHS and Community Care Act, 1990).
Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001
The chief aim of this act is to advance the standards of social care amenities. The Act
destined that far mare care services and staff came under study and inspection and had
to follow established standards. If any catastrophe occurred in care facility or an
individual to obey with an act and related protocols means they can be deregistered and
no lengthier capable to deliver services (Executive, S., 2001. Regulation of Care
(Scotland) Act 2001).
Access to Health Records Act 1990
It is an act of parliament of the UK which entitles patients and in some case their
representative to inspect their own records. Access can be held if it would be probable
to origin serious harm to the physical or cerebral health of the individual or to identify
anyone then the patient ( NHS and Community Care Act, 1990)
All these acts and regulations have to be followed by the fitness and public care
practitioners to operate the individuals. This will able to provide the safety, wellbeing,
recovery of the patient, quality of service, good health and safeguard of the patient. All
this lawmaking and strategies play a significant role in promoting protection and
fortification of service handler or seeker in health and societal care alongside possible
problems.
LO3
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Health care proficient is full of skills, qualified as well as well trained to trail all the set of
rules, acts and regulations and then by an implementation of this rules and acts on their
health care practice in an intentionally planned and prearranged method. The
government has strictly made a set of protocols to follow and apply on the day to day
work. If in any case, the health care professional does not obey rules and regulations
they may have to stop there practice in the county as they are banned by the
government (Hunter, 2016). The government made legislation and guidelines if are not
monitored suitably and correctly may outcome in the negative upshot and make the
service employee and or stakeholder to face the legal inference in their practice. All
these things also affect health and social care practice. To deliver proper health care
services to the service seekers, the service providers face lots of challenges which they
have to face and deal with it to provide a better quality of service and also to promote
the better outcome. The challenges which are faced by the service provider of health
and social care are called as ethical dilemmas or we can say moral dilemmas that have
to be solved, worked and determined in a proper manner to achieve the satisfactory
results and also to maintain the care quality service (Mullick, Martin and Sallnow, 2013).
The professionals have two opinions regarding the service at the present time but the
challenge is that the patient or service seeker is not convincible for the either of the
services due to their knowledge and thus the service providers are not able to provide to
the satisfactory care and service to the patient for the wellbeing of them. While
promoting the health and safety to the patient or service seekers the most challenging
part is to give dignity for the user for the safe and satisfactory practice. Sometimes the
case benevolences where the specialists and authorities are under server
misperception and confusion of whether to discourse the health care essentials of the
patient that promote their well-being or to have company or amuse their wish and
develop their rights of dignity. In any situation assumed such as the patient who is not
able to move due to some reasons has to be instanced to use a wheelchair, but he has
some problem in using that. To ensure the basic need and help in mobility if the patient
they have to keep patient on the wheelchair the situation of the ethical dilemma arises
whether to safeguard patient or to fulfil his demands. In such a situation the use of
legislative rules, acts and regulations to overcame such dilemmas and situation it
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basically takes decision according to the safety and wellbeing of the patient (Channing,
2013). It is important to follow the rules and regulation which are set by the government
but this rule and regulation are for the safeguard and quality service of the patients but if
this acts and rules are not providing the satisfaction to the patients so this are not
beneficial for the patient and service seekers as to provide the satisfactory services and
safeguard to the patient its sometimes necessary to not follow some rules acts and
legislation regarding the condition, mood as well as need of the patient or service
seeker. The tasks and experiments that are frequently faced by health care authorities
in order to perform according to the legislation are regarding the practice of patient's
data, respect, forestry dignity, maintenance of human rights, and promotion of care
under professional boundaries (Cave, 2014). The said challenges are the challenges
that are faced by health care professionals. The Acts, rules and regulation have three
main effects they are first, you can seek justice in a British court, secondly communal
bodies must respect your rights and lastly new laws are companionable with get-
together rights. The Lawmaking plays imperative character in managing and organizing
such contests and is bordered and outlined in such accord with the probable perils
recognized for such encounters in health and societal caution sector. Occasionally
these defies range up to the execution of legislation and strategies and are obtainable
as principled quandaries that are to be determined by thorough working out,
management, and talent and enhancement of skill (Emmerson et al, 2012). The service
provider or the stakeholder in case if stick to these legislative frameworks that is acts,
rules and regulations while fabricating the health care facilities in their daily routine
responsibilities, duties, errands and also in repetition these issues will be condensed,
concentrated and even if confronted can be determined firstly (Glasby, 2017)
LO4
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The health and community care facilities have to practised beneath a fine organized,
molded, maintained formally permissible structure and outline that could allow the
practitioners or health care professionals to deliver facilities under decent and moral set
standard rules of the health and social care system. In direction to apply, practice and
spread on some regulation such as Equality Act, 2008 and Health and Social Care Act,
2012 and the legislation has offers a strong supervisory framework and structure to be
tracked and guided by the health care physicians and service providers to provide the
ethical and moral health and community care to the workers or service seekers (Care
Quality Commission, 2012). The Equality act implements the surety that the
professionals of the health and social care must survey and monitor these procedures,
strategies and guidelines to provide equivalent and moral handling of the procedure to
each and all individual in health and communal maintenance sectors of the country. The
repetition of the health care professional has to remain free from any of partiality,
favouritism, discrimination and judgment on root of caste, gender and any other factor.
This will able to make sure equal rights and quality services to all specific people in the
HSC sector of the nation. The Human Rights Act entail that each entity or discrete has
its own comprehensive right to be immoderation and treated equally with reverence by
other persons of the civilization. These conventions, acts and set of rules make sure
that the operator of the services does not remain susceptible to any kind of judgment,
bully, abuse and harm due to any one of another individual. The act of equality came
into force from October 2010 giving a modern, solitary framework with clear,
reorganized law to tackle more effectively disadvantage and discernment (Lockwood,
Henderson and Thornicroft, 2012). The participation of the patient or service seeker in
care planning of health care and choice construction regarding their dealing plans,
medicines, surgeries and intrusion is used a tool to endorse fairness and trust towards
patient to treat and also reduce any kind of discrimination and abuse that may occur in
care of the patient of the HSC sector. The plane of quality care should be provided in
such a manner in which the criteria of having treatment to every individual should be the
same as others, the fundamental and basic criteria of forming an understanding with the
patient or service user should be like, the first introduction, secondly the interaction
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between patient and professionals' etc. must be Same to all individual and patient in
respective with the various coast-to-coast, national, rural and traditional circumstances
of the patients. The nationwide principles and standard of HSC also point toward that
every person of HSC might get fair, safe, wide-ranging and indiscriminative privileges
which are not separated as per any inequitable aspect. The trans-cultural or involving
more than one cultural services should be the main aim of existing and present HSC
system as in form of the physicians, doctors, associates or service provider should have
to encompass their talent and abilities in learning various values and culture for
dissimilar types people of different culture and to provide amenities that are
comprehensive of all the moral and cultural factors to provides fairness and equivalence
to the patients without creating them helpless to judgment and discrimination on any
center regarding to them(Cave, 2014).
The perception of humanoid rights is a way in which we can accomplish and undertake
the practices involving the wide-ranging of legal acts, regulations, rules and ethical
support and that should manage to provide best health care quality and hold up to
individuals need. The ethical dilemmas that occur during any of the work, situation or in
any condition on that behalf the certified should be trained, skilled, talented and has
enough aptitude to tackle, create correct decision, and to handle the situation that
sponsors patient privileges, health, and precaution, safety and satisfy them from any
kind of physical, decriminalize and responsive impairment and abuse.
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