Principles of Infection Control

To ensure that their own health and hygiene not pose a risk to service users and colleagues

M1) Describe how health and safety legislation, policies and procedures promote of individuals in a health or social care setting

Assignment: Keeping People Safe Unit 7: Principles of Safe Practice in Health and Social Care A: Examine how duty of care contributes to safe practice in health and social care settings B: Understand how to recognise and respond to concerns about abuse and neglect C: Investigate the influence of health and safety legislation and policies in health and social care settings D: Explore procedures and responsibilities to maintain health and safety and respond to accidents and emergencies in health and social care settings Task 1: Evaluate significance of duty of care, explaining its significance in promoting safe practice, Evaluate significance of complaints procedure in promoting safe practice, and justifies the procedures used when responding

Duty of care is a requirement that all health and social care professionals, and organisations providing health and care services, must put the interests of the people who use their service first. They also have to do everything in their power to keep people safe of any harm, neglect or risk. As an individual healthcare worker you owe a duty of care to your service users, your colleagues, your employer, yourself and the public interest. All duty of care is described I Code of Practice. Duty of care means that you must aim to provide high quality care to the best of your ability. If for any reason you can’t do this then you must say so. You must adhere to a standard of reasonable care and you are expected to:

1.1 Explain employees’ roles and responsibilities in relation to the prevention and control of infection

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.

As health care workers we are under a legal obligation to protect an individual from any kind of abuse, whether it is physical, financial, emotional, sexual or psychological .Legislation, policies and procedures exist to promote a safer working environment and reduce the potential for risks occurring. They are tailored for the needs of each setting, known and understood by employers and employees and reviewed on a regular basis.

Carers must work in collaboration with their colleagues ensuring the delivery of the highest quality, safe and very compassionate health care and support. Carers must communicate openly and in an effective way to promote the health, safety and well-being of services users and their families. Carers must respect all people’s rights to confidentiality and strive to improve the quality of health care by continuing with professional development also uphold and promote equality, diversity and inclusion. Carers must be honest with themselves and others about what they can do, recognise their abilities and limitations of their competence and only carry out of delegate those tasks agreed in their job description and for which they are competent. It is very important to behave and present yourself a way that doesn’t call into question your suitability to work in a health and social care setting, always seek guidance from your supervisor or employer should you feel unable or if you are unsure how to effectively deliver a task. Carers must comply with employers agreed ways of working and must report any actions and omissions made by one or colleagues that you feel may jeopardise the safety or care of services users this includes if necessary whistleblowing procedures to report any suspect wrong doing. Carers must

What is your responsibility under the above act as a care worker in relation to;

4.2: The potential risks of infection within the workplace can be very high in a care home as you are constantly coming into contact with people who may have infections, handling waste material which could be contaminated and working in an environment and with equipment which could be contaminated. This is why it is extremely important to wear the correct PPE and use the correct hand washing procedure and use the correct cleaning products.

It’s important so that care homes or environments are run in accordance with legislations. So staff adhere to agreed standards and regulations at all times. It also means that service users will not be put at any risk.

1. Outline current legislation and regulatory body standards which are relevant to the prevention and control of infection.

In every Health and social care setting, each person has a certain responsibility. Each care worker should be responsible for their own actions with regard to protecting themselves and others from infection. Throughout this essay I will be discussing the roles and responsibilities of care and non-care workers, managers and specialist personnel.

This paragraph explains ways to prevent infections contracted from hospitals. The number one way to lower the spread of infections contracted through a hospital is correct sanitation customs. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a federal government agency has come up with guidelines in order to safeguard against the expansion of infections and diseases for patients and the workers (Hedman, 2010). It is mandatory for administrators of hospitals to write a disclosure policy to protect the workers from infections like Hepatitis B and other infections and bad bacteria. Minimizing infections that the workers have can aid in stopping the spread of

“- stopping transmission through large-scale annual treatment of all eligible people in an area or region where infection is present;