Handling Information in Social Care Settings

Data Protection Act 1998, Freedom of Information Act 2000, Health and Social Care Act 2008, and Human Rights Act 1998

Data Protection Act 1998 – gives individuals the right to know what information is held about them, and those that processes personal information must comply with eight principles, which makes sure that personal information is fairly and lawfully processed; processed for limited purposes; adequate, relevant and not excessive; accurate and up to date; not kept for longer than is necessary; processed in line with your rights; secure; not transferred to other countries without adequate protection;

Human Rights Act 1998 – is an Act that gives legal effect in the UK to certain fundamental rights and freedoms contained in

Human Rights Act 1998 – individuals’ rights should not be contravened and independence, choice and inclusion are paramount. It is also acknowledged that some individuals require constant supervision due to their conditions/illnesses.

2 The Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth) is the law that explains the professional, ethical obligations related to privacy and confidentiality,

How do you show this person that you are listening to them, and ensure their communication needs are met?

As a Health care worker I work in accordance with the Care Standard Act 2000, Codes of Practice and conduct, with the Legal and Organisational requirements, and procedures.

The data protection act- the data protection act is legislation put in place to keep personal data confidential. It can promote anti-discriminatory practice as it can stop people finding out information about individuals that the individual wants to stay private. E.g. phone numbers and addresses. These would need to stay private so people don’t find out where you live or what is wrong with you.

The Data Protection Act 1998 is a piece of legislation which defines the law on processing data of people living within the United Kingdom.

This act links to an individual who has dementia as if their personal information at the doctors or in an elderly care home then these organisations need to ensure that these eight principles are followed.

The Data Protection Act states that you must only collect information that you need for a specific purpose and keep it secure, ensure that it is relevant and up to date to guarantee that no changes in medication or health status goes unnoticed or unaccounted

All of the staff need to make sure that confidentiality is paramount. Staff have to read and understand the Data Protection Act of 1998. We have to make sure that we are clear about our standards of conduct, that we are expected to meet. We are encouraged to use the codes of conduct to maintain our own practice

Write down the 8 principles of practice covering confidentiality from the Data Protection Act 1998.

Therefore every care practitioner should endeavour to promote theses rights when dealing with services users and their relatives. Furthermore, it is crucial for service users to understand that any information they give will be with strict confidentiality. It is a legal requirement for health and social care services to keep personal data confidential.

Anaylse the role of the social worker and the differences between different professionals and non-professionals involved (multi-disciplinary team)