This page is designed to answer the following questions:
- 1.3a Describe their responsibilities to the individuals they support (Care Certificate, Standard 1: Understand your role)
NOTE: This page has been quality assured for 2023 as per our Quality Assurance policy.
As a care worker, you have certain responsibilities to the individuals that you support.
Professionalism
You should always maintain professional boundaries with the individuals that you support. A formal working relationship is one that resides only within the work environment and is governed by organisational policies and procedures. For example, you should not socialise with your clients outside of work. Neither should you give them gifts nor receive gifts from them. Also, records will be kept in a professional relationship.
Duty of care
You will have a duty of care towards the individuals that you support, which means you have the moral and legal obligation to reasonably ensure that no harm comes to them. This also includes your responsibility to safeguard them from abuse by reporting any concerns that you have.
Candour, dignity and respect
You must treat all of the individuals you care for with dignity and respect, communicate effectively with them and work in a person-centred way. You also have a duty of candour, which means being open and honest with them if things go wrong or are likely to cause them distress, apologising, explaining what happened and working with them to find a solution to rectify it.
Specific responsibilities
As well as the more general responsibilities above, you will also have more specific responsibilities to the individuals you support based on their personal needs and preferences. This may be the responsibility to cook their meals, administer medication or arrange appointments with their GP. Your responsibilities towards each individual will be recorded in their care plan, which is a legally-binding document that should be followed precisely.