Introduction
This essay is about the effect of legislations, policies and national strategies on the delivery of health and social care services. There will be an overview of different legislations and a look at how they impact health and social care services will follow.
Children’s Act (1989,2004,2010)
Introduced first in 1989 The Children’s Act places a duty on local authorities to promote and safeguard and the welfare of children. The 1989 Act defined a child as someone under the age of 18, it put an accent on child welfare and defined parental responsibility. The multi-discipline concept was introduced during the application of this legislation. But after the death of Victoria Climbie and Lord Lamings report about the lack communication between agencies and of safeguarding measures and efficiencies in detecting and responding to cases of child abuse the Children’s Act was amended to the 2004 version. Bringing about the “every child matter” green paper was children wellbeing is put forward by promoting the 5 outcomes. Also, the multi-agency system to reinforce collaboration between different services to promote safeguarding and child protection. (long, 2014)
Children Act (2004) comes to Strengthens the 1989 Act, to encourages partnerships between agencies and creates more accountability, introduces Children’s Commissioner, Local Safeguarding Children Boards and provides legal basis for Every Child Matters (Anon., 2018)
The latest version of the legislation emphasises on physical punishment by limiting the use of reasonable punishments and identify roles and responsibilities of all including: the children commissioner, local authorities, elected director, children services, the police, health services providers, youth justice system, and the families (Child protection in England, 2018) This put child welfare as a duty and responsibility to all.
After every major child protection issue which leads to death of children, it leads to changes. The case review of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, killed by Ian Huntley caretaker in the village. This tragic could have been avoided if he was checked up during recruitment process. Sir Michael Birchard report resulted to today’s DBS police report process during recruitment. (Child protection, 2005)
This has had a massive impact on health and social care setting in the fact that it sometime prolongs the recruitment process and can be costly. During this period the service provider might still be under staffed waiting. However, this process has minimised the risks of employing criminals and barred individuals to work with vulnerable people. The downside of this process is that it does not guarantee that the person is 100% clean as they can get cleared today and kill tomorrow. This could be effective if every staff is rechecked as often as possible.
After the death of baby Peter in 2008 the Children’ Act was amended in 2010. The breakdown in communication again was an issue. So, an emphasis was on communication between different agencies: Health care professionals, teachers and other school staff, nursery staff etc, have the responsibility to pass on to the local authority or the police any suspicion or concern about child abuse, and clear guidance and support for new social worker, they had provision of funding to recruit more social worker and training review of skills. (Long, 2014)
Be Healthy, stay Safe, Enjoy and Achieve, make a positive contribution, achieve economic wellbeing.
These five outcomes are universal ambitions for every child and young person, whatever their background or circumstances. (Every Child Matters to Museums, 2018)
The two pieces of legislation that have a greatest influence is the Children’s Act, which focuses on Special Educational Needs and Disability and The NHS and Community Health Care Act, which focuses on the care and support.
NHS and Community Health Care Act (2010)
NHS is a national service that provide health care to the population and was created so that every individual present in the UK could access the health care (Gov.uk, 2012). With the passage of time the needs of population change NHS goes through reforms and modernisation so that it can cope with the needs. So, NHS has to change and bring improvements to the legislation in order to provide a good healthcare delivery (Patients4NHS , 2018).
“One of the reasons for introducing the 2012 HSC Act was the financial issues facing the NHS and also the vast pressure on its services, this transferred the availability of public health services (such as children’s services, mental and dental health, immunisation, screening, sexual health and health protection programmes) to cash-strapped local authorities (LAs). LAs have the ability to outline and choose the way they provide these services, and could make them chargeable in time, Abolished Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and instead establish Clinical Commissioning Groups(CCGs)”
(Patients4NHS , 2018)
Improving quality of care is the main goal of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
The Act contains various arrangements to energise and empower the NHS, nearby government and different areas, to enhance understanding results through significantly more compelling co-ordinated work, gives the premise to better joint effort, association working and combination crosswise over neighbourhood government and the NHS at all levels, CCGs will be best put to advance coordination given their insight into understanding needs, and the appointing energy to outline new administrations around these necessities, The weights on the NHS are expanding, with regards to wellbeing frameworks over the world. (Patients4NHS , 2018). Request is developing quickly as the populace ages and long-term conditions turn out to be more typical; more sophisticated and costly treatment choices are getting to be accessible. (Gov.uk, 2012).
The Act places clinicians in charge regarding shaping services, empowering NHS funding to be spent more successfully and this will empower patients to be able to choose proper services for their needs, from charity or independent providers, as long as they meet NHS costs. (Gov.uk, 2012)
Establishes an independent NHS Board to allocate resources and provide commissioning guidance, increases GPs power to commission services on behalf of their patients or strengthens the role of the Care Quality Commission are important key point. (www.parliament.uk, 2018)
Standard Care Act (2000)
This legislation provides standard for all service providers in health care sectors. Everyone must undergo inspection to provide accountability when things go wrong (QCS, 2018). The delivery of care and support is changing and becoming more complex, to avoid lack of consistency in the service provided and difficulty in regulating care The Standard Care Act was established, replacing the Residential Homes Act 1984. (hcpc, 2018)
The Standard Care Act 2000 is an Act to “establish a National Care Standards Commission to make provision for the registration and regulation of children’s homes, independent hospitals, independent clinics, care homes, residential family centres, independent medical agencies, domiciliary care agencies, fostering agencies, nurses’ agencies and voluntary adoption agencies”. (legislation.gov.uk, 2000)
The quality of vulnerable adults, particularly in care home has been a key area of policy concern. Commission for Social Care Inspection set up in 2000 by the Standard Care, act established a new system of national minimum standards for all residential and nursing homes and domiciliary services, and to regulate the quality and standards of staff working in social care and independent sector, hospital and clinics General Social Care Council (GSCC) (scie, 2006)
Data Protection Act (1984, 1998)
The main purpose of this Act is to protect personal data stored on computers or in an organised paper filing system. The Act applies to both manual and computerised personal files and requires transparency in the use of information and emphasises the need for privacy and access by individuals (data protection, 2018).
The Data Protection Act 1984 has now been replaced by the Data Protection Act 1998.The Act applies to both manual and modernized individual records and requires straightforwardness in the use of data and underscores the requirement for security and access by people. (data protection, 2018).
The Data Protection Act 1984 has now been supplanted by the Data Protection Act 1998 and its basic role of current information assurance enactment is to ensure people against conceivable abuse of data about them held by others. Under the terms of the new Act, processing of data includes any activity to do with the data involved. All staff who approach or utilise individual information like: address records, contact points of interest and additionally singular documents need to guarantee that such information isn’t revealed to any unapproved individual, on account of delicate individual information which incorporates information about: racial or ethnic details, political convictions, religious or different beliefs, exchange association participation, wellbeing, sexual orientation, criminal charges and procedures or feelings there are extra confinements and express consent will typically be required. (data protection, 2018)
Under the terms of the new Act, handling of information incorporates any movement to do with the information included “and its primary purpose of current data protection legislation is to protect individuals against possible misuse of information about them held by others”. (data protection, 2018)
Disability Discrimination Act (1995, 2005) Equality Act (2010)
The Act was the pinnacle of public campaign to constrain the government to end state and business discrimination against disabled people,” is an important piece of legislation with the potential to protect the employment rights of people with disabilities. It covers people with physical or mental impairments that have a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”. (Boardman, 2018)
The Act was amended in 2005 and made significant changes to the 1995 Act.
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) is a civil right law who establish to make discrimination against disabled persons (people with cancer, HIV infection, multiple sclerosis, severe disfigurement or blind) sex discrimination, race relation in connection with employment or provision of goods, facilities and services or management disposal illegal, buying or renting a property,” it is unlawful to discriminate against people in respect of their disabilities in relation to employment, the provision of goods and services, education and transport”. (legislation.gov.uk, 2018)
In 2010 Equality Act was establish to replaced previous anti-discrimination laws (Disability Discrimination, Race Relations, Sex Discrimination) with a single Act, and legitimately shields individuals from discrimination: harassment, unwanted conduct related to a person\’s disability, humiliating or offensive environment for that person, to victimisation or failure to make ‘reasonable adjustments in the work environment and in society. (gov.uk, 2013)
Race relations act (1976,2000,2010), Equality Act 2010
The Act is perceived to every single open body, e.g. NHS to make services accessible to individuals with different race, colour, status, ethnic and national origin and to eliminate both direct and indirect discrimination, (QCS, 2018) and was amended by 2000 Act, who included a statutory duty on public bodies to promote race equality, and to demonstrate that stop race discrimination procedure is effective.
In 2010 Disability Discrimination Act and Race Relations Act 1976 was replace by Equality Act. 116 pieces of legislation combined in the new Act provide and protect people from discrimination in the workplace and in society, harassment in services, in education. (Boardman, 2018).
Stronger laws were needed because the old equality laws did not make equality happen fast enough (many women are paid less than men, disabled people are a lot more likely to have no job, protects people who are looking after someone, like carers, People with different religions or beliefs, Race). (gov.uk, 2011)
There are nine areas considered unlawful to discriminate against people at work: age, disability, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership, gender reassignment, sexual orientation (gov.uk, 2011). “The aim of the Equality Act is to improve equal job opportunities and fairness for employees and job applicants. Organisations should have policies in place so these outcomes happen and, just as importantly, to prevent discrimination”. (acas, 2018)
Ofsted
“Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. We inspect and regulate services that care for children and young people, and services providing education and skills for learners of all ages” (gov.uk, 2018).
The annual program on surveys focus on: early education, social care survey, further education and skills and the research made on these areas are improved every year. (gov.uk, 2018).
Among their responsibilities: inspecting, maintained schools and academies, some freelance faculties, and plenty of different instructional establishments and programmes outside of upper education, inspecting child care, adoption and fostering agencies and initial teacher coaching, publishing reports of our findings in order that they will be used to improve the general quality of education and coaching regulating a variety of early years and children’s social care services, ensuring they’re appropriate for them and for vulnerable children. (gov.uk, 2018)
Different Registered body for health and social care providers
Care Quality Commission
On 1 April 2009 the independent regulator of all health and social care services in England The Care Quality Commission (CQC) began operating, its job is to make sure that care provided by hospitals, dentists, ambulances, GP’s care homes and services in people’s own homes and elsewhere meets government standards of quality and safety. On every registered care services CQC check if all aspects of care, including treating people with dignity and respect, making sure that that the environment is clean and safe, managing and staffing services are at the government standards. (hcpc, 2018). Monitor Is the regulator for NHS Foundation Trusts. Its main duty is to safeguard and promote the interests of patients by guaranteeing the supply of effective health care services. (hcpc, 2018)
The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA)
Scrutinises and oversees the work of the nine health and care regulators: The General Chiropractic Council (GCC), the General Dental Council (GDC), the General Medical Council (GMC), the General Optical Council (GOC), the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC), the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). (hcpc, 2018)
In conclusion, legislations are provided by the government and every service provider must build up policies and procedures to implement them.
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