Care Values and Communication in a Hospital setting Essay

The care values are a set of rules and guidelines that every care practitioner has to follow in order to provide services to their clients. The overall aim of the standards is to improve client’s quality of life by ensuring that each person gets the care that is most appropriate for them as an individual. The three main care values are Confidentiality, Equality and Diversity and Individual rights and beliefs. By achieving these care values we can improve the quality of care and allow all patients to be treated as an individual with respect. Slideshare.net (2012) http://www.slideshare.net/j.slack/what-is-the-care-value-base (Accessed: 22 January 2013) Confidentiality is an important principle in health and social care as it imposes boundaries on the amount of personal information and data that can be disclosed without consent. Confidentiality is where a person disclosing personal information expects their privacy to be protected, such as in a relationship of trust. However in some situations confidentiality can be countered, when there is public interest in others being protected from harm. UCeL (2012_ http://www.ucel.ac.uk/rlos/confidentiality/ (Accessed: 22 January 2013) Confidentiality is very important because as healthcare workers our ability to correctly diagnose and treat our patients depends on getting a correct medical and social history, and having our patients trusts us. If a patients feels that the professional would share this information they may not give them the truth and without that important information they could make the wrong diagnosis and wrong treatment. Yahoo answers (2012) http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070820014312AAuFE9q (Accessed: 25 January 2013) Confidentiality can be used in oral communication in a hospital setting, For example if a patients approached their GP about a private and embarrassing problem they would be expected to show that patient respect and not to share the information given with anyone else. An example of a time where this could be shared is if their GP wanted to send them for tests and had to inform a specialist about their condition. Another type of communication is written this could be used to promote confidentiality as all paper based records must be locked away in a filing cabinet and only be accessed by those authorised to. Also to access your own records you must write a letter and wait approval for this. Also for documents written on the computer there are various passwords and back up options for if the server goes down or a records is deleted. An example of how confidentiality can be used in computerised communication would be having passwords and automatic locks on staff’s computers and email accounts so only they can access their own patient’s information and no other members of staff or unauthorised persons. The last type of communication is specialist one example of how this can be used in confidentiality is if a person has hearing barriers and has to use sign language to communicate with their doctor. If their doctor is giving those results or information on their health and has to use sign language they may need an interpreter and the patients may want to use a quiet and enclosed room with the blinds shut just in case anybody else can see the sign language being used and understands it. Another care value is Equality and Diversity. This means treating everyone equally regardless of their colour, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability etc. This is different to treating people the same as different people have different needs, so individuality should be taken in to account. For example, it would not be equal treatment to provide two different people with information about the services available written in English, if one of those people spoke another language and could not understand English. Wiki.Answers (2012) http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_equality_and_diversity_mean_in_health_and_social_care (Accessed: 22 January 2013) We live in an increasingly diverse society and need to be able to respond appropriately and sensitively to this diversity. Learners in the healthcare setting will reflect this diversity around gender, race and ethnicity, disability, religion, sexuality, class and age. Successful implementation of equality and diversity in all aspects of work ensures that colleagues, staff and students are valued, motivated and treated fairly. London Deanery (2012) http://www.faculty.londondeanery.ac.uk/e-learning/diversity-equal-opportunities-and-human-rights/what-is-equality-and-diversity (Accessed: 25 January 2013) One example of how Equality and Diversity can be used in oral communication in a hospital setting is that a doctor would speak differently to a child than they would to an adult as children may not be able to understand some of the information they are being told if they used big words and medical jargon. Doctors should also use a slower pace and soft tone when speaking to younger patients and ask them regularly if they understand what is being said although they normally have a parent or guardian to accompany them. An example of how Equality and Diversity can be used in written communication would be if a patient cannot read or speak English they may have to produce leaflets in their language so they understand their condition or illness and what treatment is needed more clearly. An example of how Equality and Diversity can be used in computerised communication would be having audio descriptions and talking pages on the NHS website so that people with sight barriers can still access the information they have to offer. The last type of communication is specialist and an example of how this can promote equality and Diversity is if a patient doesn’t speak English they may need a translator to assist the patient in talking to the doctor and to assist the doctor diagnosing the patient. This allows the patient to get the medical attention they require and are entitled to without them learning a second language which makes them equal but also individual. Individual’s rights and Beliefs means being treated as an individual according to our own needs, every individual wants to be treated fairly, in the care sector it is of the utmost importance that a service user is treated fairly and also treated with love, care and respect. The individual rights are respect, choice, dignity, protection, and equality, access to information, non-discrimination, and effective communication. They also have the right to their own beliefs and a doctor must respect a patients beliefs and choice’s when treating them. Wiki.Answers (2012) http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_individual_rights_in_health_and_social_care (Accessed: 22 January 2013) When working within a health and social care sector based environment is to ensure that each service user feels that they can trust you as the service provider.