Code of Practice for Social Care Workers The pictures used in this document come from Photo Symbols

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The highlighted words and what they mean are in the word list on pages 19-20

Contact Details Care Council for Wales South Gate House Wood Street Cardiff CF10 1EW Tel: 0300 30 33 444 Fax: 029 2038 4764 Minicom: 029 2078 0680 E-mail: [email protected] www.ccwales.org.uk ISBN: 978-1-906528-37-9 © 2012 Care Council for Wales All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the Care Council for Wales. Enquiries for reproduction outside the scope expressly permitted by law should be sent to the Chief Executive of the Care Council for Wales at the address given above.

Further copies and other formats Further copies of this document are available in large print or other formats if required. 2   

Introduction This document is about the Code of Practice which has been agreed for social care workers and the employers of social care workers in Wales.

This introduction will help you understand:  what the Code is for,  and what it means to: 1. Service Users 2. Members of the public

The Code will help you understand: 1.

How a social care worker should treat you.

2.

How employers should support social care workers to do their job well. 3 

 

What is the Code? There is a Code of Practice for social care workers and a Code of Practice for their employers. They have been put together in this document. The Code of Practice for Social Care Workers is a list which gives the standards social care workers must use in their work.

The Code makes clear what the standards are. It also makes sure workers know the standards expected of them by employers, service users and the public.

The Code of Practice for Employers of Social Care Workers tells employers what they must do to make sure social care workers keep to the rules. 4   

The Code tells employers they must: 1. Keep to the standards in their Code. 2. Help social care workers to do what it says in their Code. 3. Take action if social care workers do not meet the standards which are expected.

The Care Councils will make sure everyone knows about the standards by showing them to lots of people.

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The Code of Practice There are 6 standards in the Code of Practice. A social care worker must: 1. Protect the rights of service users and carers, making sure everyone knows what is important to them. This means a social care worker must:  Treat each person as an individual, respecting what each service user and carer thinks and wants. They must make sure that people who need it have this information.  Support the rights of service users to control their lives.  Give service users the information they need to make choices about the services they get. 6   

 Respect and keep the dignity and privacy of service users at all times.

 Help service users and carers to have the same chances as everyone else.

 Respect people’s differences, other cultures and what is important to them.

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2. Try really hard to earn and keep the trust of service users and carers.

This means a social care worker must:  Be honest and someone who can be trusted.

 Speak to people in a way that they can understand.

 Not give out personal details about people.  Explain to service users and carers their organisation’s policy about keeping information private. 8   

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 Be someone who always does what they say they will do. If this is not possible, they must explain why to service users and carers.

 Say if there is anything that may make it difficult for them to support a service user in the right way for that person.

 Keep to their organisation’s policy about accepting gifts and money from service users and carers.

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3. Help service users be independent, and at the same time keep them safe from danger.

This means a social care worker must:   Make sure service users are independent and help them to understand and use their rights.

 Use their company policy to speak out against bad behaviour and ways of working.

 And use the policy to keep themselves and others safe from violent or bullying behaviour. 10   

 Tell their employer, or the correct outside organisation, about any problems in their service which may stop safe care being given.   And tell them about any workers who are working in a way that is unsafe or stopping good care being given.  Follow their employer’s health and safety policies, including those about drugs and alcohol.  Help service users and carers to say if they are not happy. They must reply to any complaints and pass on the information to

the right person.  Understand and use the control they have in the right way when

working with service users and carers. 11 

 

4. Respect the rights of service users, and at the same time make sure what they do does not hurt them or others. This means a social care worker must:  Understand that service users have the right to take risks.

 Help service users to recognise possible and real risks to themselves and others. Support them to deal with these risks while keeping safe.  

 Follow policies to work out if service users’ behaviour may lead to a danger of them hurting themselves or others. This is called a risk assessment. 12   

 Take any steps needed to reduce the risk of service users doing harm to themselves or others.

 Make sure they tell other workers and organisations about any risk assessments which may affect their work with service users.

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5. Do their work well, so that everyone feels social care services are doing a good job. This means a social care worker must not:

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Harm, bully or fail to look after properly service users, carers or other workers.

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Use service users, carers or other workers to get something for themselves.

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Break the trust of service users and carers.

Give out personal information about a service user or carer, or information about their home or where they work.

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 Have close personal relationships with service users.

 Treat anyone differently because of their race, lifestyle, sex, age, sexuality or religion. This is against the law.  

They must also not agree with any other person who is treating someone differently because of these reasons.

 Put themselves or others in danger.

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Behave in a way that would make people ask questions about whether the worker is the right kind of person to

work in social care services. 15   

6. Always make sure they know enough to do a good job. This means making sure they have training in the right skills.

This means a social care worker must: Work in ways they have agreed with the employer.

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Work in a safe way that gets good results and does not break the law.  Tell their employer, or the correct outside organisation, if they have a personal problem that might make it hard to do their job well and safely. They must always ask their employer to help if they feel they are not able to do any part of their work. 16 

 

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 Look for help from their employer, or the correct outside organisation, if at any time they are not sure what to do at work.  Work with other workers in the best way possible.  Be honest with other workers and always treat them with respect.  If the workers are from another organisation, treat them in the same way as everyone likes to be treated.  Understand that if they have given any work to other workers, they have a duty to make sure it is done properly. 17 

 

What happens if social care workers do not do what it says in the Code?

The Care Council for Wales expects all social care workers to do what it says in the Code. They may take action if this does not happen.

Employers of social care workers must look at this Code before they make any decisions about what their workers have done.

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If their work is not good enough, a social care worker could lose their job.

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Word list Care Councils Care Councils make the rules for social care workers and social care managers. They have written the Codes and make sure people know about them. Care Councils can stop people working in social care if they do not work in the way the Codes say they must. Code of Practice A Code of Practice tells people the standards that are expected. Dignity Dignity is a person's right to be treated like everyone else who is not receiving support. If people are treated with dignity, they usually have the right to make choices for themselves. Employer An employer gives jobs to workers. An employer must make sure the jobs are done properly by the workers. 19   

Policies Policies are plans or rules an organisation has for different situations so everyone knows what they must do.  

Risk assessment A risk assessment works out how much danger there might be in a situation. It also works out what needs to be done to make it less dangerous. Service user A service user has support from social care workers and uses their services. Social care worker A social care worker has a job working with people who need extra support in their lives. For example they could be a social worker or support worker. Standard A standard is a way of doing something which has been agreed by everyone. 20