Working Partnerships in Health and Social Settings

Question: As health and social care workers partnership working is an essential component of health and social care practice. People's needs do not fit neatly within one agency's responsibility. Partnerships, however, are a potentially powerful way of addressing issues that single agencies cannot resolve by themselves. Those who plan and provide services need to work alongside the people who use them, to put together new and better solutions to difficult problems. Health and social care professionals need to understand the importance of promoting autonomy with individuals and also be aware of their own roles and responsibilities and how they relate to each other's within the sector. Task 1: LO1 understand partnership philosophies and relationships in health and social care services. 1000 words. what u must do - most organisations are now careful about their quality performance. if u were appointed as an internal quality assurance officer for a chain of nursing homes and one has been under performing, write a report of an expected and ideal situation. In the report demonstrate ur knowledge on the importance of caring for your service users: 1. EXPLAIN the philosophies of working in partnership in health and soccial care in relation to identifying the failures that occured in the residential setting. Answer: Introduction The report would seek a deep insight towards the partnership philosophies and relationship in health and social care services. The chosen organization of the topic is Oakhill House Care Home, which is underperforming in terms of quality assistance. Upon identification of the concurrent issues, the quality assurance officer would demonstrate his knowledge on the importance of caring for the service users. The report would also emphasize on the philosophies of partnership working in relation to the identification of failures occurring in the residential setting of health and social care. Current scenario of Oakhill House Care Home In accordance to the health and social care report generated by the Care Quality Commission, the nursing home failed to preserve the respect and dignity of the service users at the utmost level. The primary areas of concerns for the service users are lack of privacy, call bells out of reach and staffs speaking to the patients in a condescending way. Lack of cordial approaches from the management, have dropped the quality level to quite an extent. The mortality Rate has increased over the past few years (Nover 2014). There were complaints about keeping the patients unnecessarily in the nursing home for enhancing medical bills. The societal attitude has also received criticisms off late. The patients were into a state of depression and isolation due to lack of empathy and responsiveness from the management. Therefore, there is an essentiality for the Quality assurance officer to underpin the concerns, which were harming the integrity of the service users in the Nursing Home. Importance of caring for the service Users In the contemporary scenario, there is a lot of political debate about the quality of health and social care for the service users. Care Quality Commission (CQC) and National Health Service (NHS) have faced serious challenges off late due to budget cuts and increasing demand of the health and social care services (Canady 2016). Effective communication is very much essential in the sector of health and social care. This reflects on the caring approach of the service providers and helps in developing a good relationship between the caregivers and the service users. The health and social care institutions must pass over valuable information to the service users and involve them in the decision-making process. It is necessary to make the service users feel comfortable by asking them continuously about their health and mental conditions. An empathic and responsive approach would develop a trust factor in the individual towards the respective nursing home. There are certain barriers to effective communication for individuals suffering from dementia, aphasia, poor hearing etc. In these circumstances, the service users should implement various communication methods to interact with the consumers (Benison 2015). Implementation of the above ideas would make a service user feel valued and important in the society. Mental stability acts as a preventive ointment for several diseases and therefore, the service providers must take up the responsibility of serving the interest of the patients in critical situations. Philosophies of working in partnership of health and social care in relation to the failures occurred in the residential setting The philosophy of working in health and social care reflects on the set of beliefs and values while working in health and social care institutions. Partnership working develops a mutual supportive relationship with the service users. In the contemporary scenario, patients are more independent in nature, as they prefer to make choices based on the valuable information available to them. The philosophies reflect on the working in health and social care sector are mentioned below: Philosophy of Respect Philosophy of respect would allow the service users to take part in decision-making process, while gathering valuable information about medical care treatments from the caregivers. On a further note, The service providers would often take active participation in valuing the beliefs and values of the clients. However, in case of residential settings, the service users always receive a negligent approach from the service providers. Philosophy of empowerment Philosophy of empowerment allots certain responsibilities to the individual lacking in power. It is one of the most effective ways of solving individual problems (Gerber 2012). Upon effectiveness of personal achievement, these philosophies impart satisfaction amongst partnership relationships. The atmosphere of Oakhill does not empower the service users, rather bog down their morale in a negative manner. Philosophy of autonomy In order to protect the self-interest of the service users, individual freedom refers to philosophy of autonomy. The service users take their own judgment for evaluating self-interest and often possess the capability to alter the environment and resources in the health and social care (Nimegeer et al. 2015). The service users hardly get the opportunity to display their personal thoughts due to the non-communicative atmosphere of the nursing home. Philosophy of Informed choices East accessibility to information is the most decisive trait for philosophy of informed choices. Service users require quality information, which would enable them to take right decisions in life. Less information is provided to the service users. In some cases, manipulative information gathered by the employees often forbids them to take wrong decisions. Philosophy of independence Philosophy of independence refers to the capability to take decisions on integral aspects of service users. Self-autonomy, ability and control are the important aesthetics of philosophy of independence (Nover 2014). The service users of the nursing home lacks independency approach, due to lack of information shared to them. Philosophy of power sharing In accordance to collaborative partnership, working in health and social care institutions, power sharing refers to the negotiation abilities to develop a mutual understanding about roles, responsibilities and handing over power relationships. The management lacks responsive and empathic approach, which hinders power sharing to the service users. The philosophies and theories does not dictate the behavioral patterns of individuals, rather it emphasizes on a relative framework of understanding ethical dilemma arising in certain scenarios to take morally correct decisions. Evaluation of Partnership relationship health and social care The essentiality of partnership working in health and social care setting of Oakhill house Care home is in alignment with the several factors faced by the UK government. Higher levels of economical issues, enhanced ageing population, increasing number of vulnerable child patients and mentally handicapped individuals urges the need of partnership working in the UK nursing home (Payne and Anastas 2014). Partnership relationship in health and social care would assist in solving various issues faced by the UK government such as lower level of health outcomes, critical situations, unnecessary enhancement in costs, and inaccurate diagnosis of diseases, lethargic approach, ineffective decisions and inability to recognize health concerns. Collaborative approach of health and social care would assist in providing personalized service to the patients of the nursing home. A successful partnership strategy would enable the partners to converse with each other. Eliminating barriers of progressive stabilization, provision of consistent and comprehensive care, facilities of accessing education, employment and training programs are the main advantages acquired by the service users in partnership working of health and social care (Timor-Shlevin and Krumer-Nevo 2015). In accordance to the service providers, the application of integrative system exhibits a whole person approach, manage scope of care services, develop skills in meeting client interests and identify the relative strength and weakness of the service organizations. Conclusion On the contrary, it concludes that working partnerships in health and social settings is identical for the nursing home for enhancing service quality in an effective manner. The emerging issues of negligent patient care are a rising concern or the nursing home over the years. Therefore, partnership working could resolve the rising conflicts through effective communication, teamwork, negotiating approach and service resilience. References Benison, L., 2015 Health and social care partnership improves lives. Practice Nursing, 26(2), pp.60-60 Canady, V., 2016 Michigan partnership promotes quality ED alternative, reduced health care costs. Mental Health Weekly, 26(4), pp.1-7 Gerber, L., 2012. Community health nursing: A partnership of care Nursing, 42, p.19-78 Nimegeer, A., Farmer, J., Munoz, S. and Currie, M., 2015. Community participation for rural healthcare design: description and critique of a method Health Soc Care Community, 24(2), pp.175-183 Nover, C., 2014. Implementing a Mental Health and Primary Care Partnership Program in Placer County, California Social Work in Health Care, 53(2), pp.156-182 Payne, N. and Anastas, J., 2014. The Mental Health Needs of Low-Income Pregnant Teens: A Nursing-Social Work Partnership in Care Research on Social Work Practice, 25(5), pp.595-606 Timor-Shlevin, S. and Krumer-Nevo, M., 2015 Partnership-based practice with young people: relational dimensions of partnership in a therapeutic setting Health Soc Care Community, 45(2), 34-56