Edition No. 14 - February 2002

Content

This Care Standards Update addresses the draft Code of Practice for employers published by the General Social Care Council.

DRAFT CODE OF PRACTICE FOR SOCIAL CARE WORKERS

Purpose

The purpose of this code is to set down the conduct expected of social care workers and to inform service users and the public of the standards of conduct they can expect from social care workers. Social care workers are responsible for ensuring that their conduct does not fall below the standards set out in this code and that they safeguard the well being of service users.

Social care workers must to the best of their ability:

• Safeguard and promote the interests of service users and carers
  

• Strive to maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers

• Respect the independence of service users and protect them as far as possible from danger or harm

• Balance the rights of service users and carers with the interests of society

• Take responsibility for their practice and learning

• Justify public trust and confidence in social care services

As a social care worker you must safeguard and promote the interests of service users and carers. This includes:

• Supporting people's rights to control their lives and make choices about the services they receive;
  
  

• Listening to, respecting and, where appropriate, promoting the views and wishes of service users and carers;

• Valuing and treating each person as an individual; and,

• Respecting and maintaining the dignity and privacy of service users and carers.

• As a social care worker you must strive to maintain the trust and confidence os service users and carers. This includes:
  
  

  • Being honest and trustworthy;

  • Communicating in an open, accurate and straightforward way;

  • Being reliable and dependable;

  • Honouring as far as possible work commitments, agreements and arrangements; and,

  • Declaring conflicts of interest and striving to ensure that they do not influence your judgement or practice.

As a social care worker you must respect the independence of service users and protect them, as far as possible, from danger or harm. This includes:

• Challenging dangerous, abusive, discriminatory or exploitative behaviour and using established processes and procedures to report it;

• Taking complaints seriously and responding to them or passing them to the appropriate person;

• Respecting confidential information and gaining permission from those it concerns to share it for specific reasons e.g. consultation with managers or other members of the care team. Disclosures of confidential information without consent should only be made where they can be justified in the public interest (usually where disclosure is essential to protect the service user or someone else from risk of death or serious harm) or, where disclosure is required by law or order of a court;

• Recognising the potential for power imbalances in working relationships with service users and carers and using authority in a responsible manner; and,

• Following practice and procedures designed to keep you and other people safe from violent and abusive behaviour at work.

As a social care worker you must, to the best of your ability, balance the rights of service users and carers with the interests of society. This includes:

• Taking necessary steps to avoid service users from doing actual or potential harm to themselves or other people; and,

• Balancing the rights of service users whose behaviour represents a risk to themselves or other people with the paramount interest of public safety.

As a social care worker you must take responsibility, wherever possible, for your practice and learning. This includes:

• Working openly and co-operatively with colleagues and other professionals, recognising their role and expertise and treating them with respect;

• Adhering to legal requirements and relevant standards of practice, and promoting and maintaining good practice;

• Being free from the influence of alcohol and drugs (other than proper use of proprietary or prescribed medicines) while at work;

• Informing your employer or the appropriate authority about any physical, mental, emotional or legal difficulties that might affect your ability to do your job competently and safely;

• Undertaking learning, training and development, wherever possible, to continually improve your knowledge and skills and ensure that you work, in a lawful, safe and effective manner;

• Being responsible for the quality of your work and contributing to the learning and development of others;

• Informing your employer or the appropriate authority if you do not feel competent to carry out any aspect of your work and seeking necessary supervision and training; and,

• Dealing, as far as is reasonable, with the concerns of colleagues about their ability to carry out work you have delegated to them.

As a social care worker you must justify public trust and confidence in social care services. You must not:

• Abuse, neglect or harm service users or carers;

• Exploit service users, carers or colleagues sexually, physically, emotionally, financially or in any other way;

• Abuse the trust of service users and carers or the access you have to their property, home or workplace;

• Discriminate unlawfully against service users, carers or colleagues for any reason or condone any such discrimination on their part;

• Put yourself or other people at unnecessary risk;

• Accept personal gifts from service users or their carers, or gifts or payments from any service providers that would, or might appear to, place you under an obligation; or,

• Behave in a manner that might damage the reputation of social care or social work, or reduce the trust and confidence of the public. Dishonest, indecent, violent or abusive behaviour even if not directly connected to your work practice, may call into question your suitability to work in social care services.
  

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