February 2018 – DSDWEB: FREE STUDY GUIDES FOR CARE QUALIFICATIONS

2.1b Choose one key piece of legislation or driver that’s relevant to your organisation and do a brief overview that could be shared with others in your organisation to enhance their learning.

October 7, 2018February 23, 2018 by Dan

Name of legislation	Mental Capacity Act 2005
Summary of key areas	Capacity should be assumed until proven otherwise. An individual cannot be said to lack capacity until all reasonable steps to support them to make a decision have been tried. Making unwise decisions does not mean lack of capacity. Decisions made on behalf of an individual must be done in their best interests. Before a decision is made about an individual, the situation must be reviewed to check that the results cannot be achieved in a less restrictive way.
Relevance to your organisation/setting	Some clients may lack capacity to make decisions in certain areas.
What it means for your team/organisation	Read Care Plans! Assume clients have the capacity to make a decision unless it is documented that they cannot.
Actions needed to be taken by members of your team/organisation	If in doubt about a client’s capacity to makes a decision, this should be raised with senior staff or management. Staff should support clients to make informed decisions where they have been deemed to have capacity.
Who else might need to know about this legislation – people who access care and support/carers?	Clients Client’s family and friends Other professionals
Who else does the legislation apply to?	Everybody

2.1a Choose three pieces of legislation that might be particularly relevant to your organisation and the setting in which you work and explore the impact in more detail

October 7, 2018February 23, 2018 by Dan

Consider the following list of legislation taken from the CQC website page referenced above. Choose three pieces of legislation that might be particularly relevant to your organisation and the setting in which you work and explore the impact in more detail using the table to record your findings.

Legislation	Relevant sections	Must have	Nice to know
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006	All	All staff (both paid and unpaid) must have a DBS check. This is a legal responsibility of the employer.	There are two types of DBS check – one for working with vulnerable adults and another for working with children.
Equality Act 2010	All	All staff must be treated equitably and given the same opportunities.	The Equality Act supercedes several other pieces of legislation including the Disability Discrimination Act, Equal Pay Act, Sex Discrimination Act etc.
MCA Code of Practice	All	Individuals should be assumed to have capacity to make decisions unless it has been proved otherwise. Making unwise decisions does not mean lack of capacity,	Individuals must be assessed on a decision-by-decision basis. Individuals should be given all the support they need to make informed decisions before being assessed as lacking capacity.

1.3a Knowledge Sharing Within the Team

October 7, 2018February 12, 2018 by Dan

How is knowledge shared with the team?

Informal discussions on shift

Regular team meetings

Notice board

Communications book

Other paperwork

What are the ways used for sharing practice issues?

Team meetings, training

How often is knowledge shared by team members rather than just leaders and managers?

Regularly – everybody is encouraged to contribute during team meetings and share their ideas with the rest of the team.

How do groups of front line staff meet to share practice experiences and develop their learning?

Team meetings, informal discussions whilst on shift

How could you develop a shared approach to problem solving?

We already do

1.2a How does your organisation encourage and respond to feedback from a range of partners?

November 27, 2018February 11, 2018 by Dan

Silhouettes of many individuals with speech bubbles above their heads representing the giving of feedback

Organisations in the health and social care sector should always strive for excellence and one of the best ways of achieving this is to ask for feedback from others. Historically, if organisations do ask for feedback, it tends to be from their customers. Whilst this can give a useful insight from the perspective of the clients, some companies are now requesting feedback from everyone that interacts with them; this includes clients, employees, managers, shareholders, other professionals, partners and client families. Known as 360-degree feedback, this can provide a lot of valuable information from all viewpoints.

The table below shows the Manager Induction Standards questions for question 1.2a along with example answers. Obviously answers will vary from organisation to organisation.

Questions	Reflection
What systems are in place for receiving, analysing and acting on feedback from different partners?	3C’s form – Compliments, Comments and Complaints Regular formal and informal discussions with all stakeholders
How do you value the contribution of people who access care and support, their carers and relatives?	Contributions are always taken into account and acted on. All 3C’s forms are thoroughly investigated by Senior Management
In what ways can they be encouraged to contribute even more?	By asking them for feedback
How is everyone in the organisation equally committed to the idea of participation?	By knowing that all ideas and contributions will be taken seriously. By being encouraged to take calculated risks
What can you do to ensure that other members of the team understand the key importance of involving people who access care and support, their carers and relatives?	Regular coaching, supervision and training

1.1d Describe one area where you’ve demonstrated leadership skills and one where you’ve demonstrated management skills.

October 7, 2018February 10, 2018 by Dan

Consider the role of a manager in your social care organisation. Describe one area where you’ve demonstrated leadership skills and one where you’ve demonstrated management skills. Give reasons for your choice of style.

	Area of responsibility	Reasons for choice
Leadership	Exploring ways to help a client lose weight in collaboration with the client and team. Ideas were discussed in a team meeting.	Democratic – everyone involved discussed ideas and decided the way forward. This meant that staff and the client had ownership of the ideas and would be more likely to follow through with the plan.
Management	Telling a member of staff they are not allowed to use Facebook on their phone whilst at work as part of their Supervision.	Autocratic – this is company policy and non-negotiable. I had already spoken to the member of staff about this in an informal setting but they continued to do so, so was forced to bring this up formally and in writing.