Care home
Advice
Our loved ones sometimes cannot live with us or they may need a specific treatment orientated to their medical needs. Care homes are sometimes the best option for them as they can provide the necessary care and personal support. Professionals with special knowledge and skills can help them and guarantee for them an ideal environment that will provide them with love and care. The majority of care homes follow all the rules and standards the Law sets out for them.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for all nursing homes and some fall far short of acceptable standards.
Legal obligations of care centres
Despite the progress of society, some social groups are still likely to face discrimination of some kind. Care centres and their employees are obliged to comply with the provisions of the Equality Act and do their best to respect and protect your human rights. If you feel for any reason that the quality of the services that you, or a loved one enjoy is not to an acceptable standard or you are treated differently because of your;
- Age;
- Religion;
- Ethnicity background;
- Family status;
- Sexual orientation; or
- Disease/disability.
Don’t tolerate anything less than the best type of care as that is exactly what you or your loved one deserve.
The Regulations of The Health and Social Care Act detail all the rules that care providers have to comply with and explains what our loved ones are entitled to during their stay.
There are three pillars upon which their care and treatment must be based on.
- Person orientated care
This means that the provided treatment has to be specially designed to cover the special needs of every resident; this covers such areas as specific daily nutrition needs. The care that the nursing home provides has to be appropriate to cover the special needs of your loved ones and reflect their preferences. Any action against the will of our loved ones is not accepted and not permitted. It is also unacceptable to impart an action or behaviour that makes them feel in any way uncomfortable or sad.
- Dignity and respect
Any service or treatment has to be given concerning their personality, their special needs, and reassuring them that their independence, their dignity, and their privacy are not put in danger of any kind. After undertaking the care of our loved ones, it is the responsibility of every care home to take all the necessary measures to protect all the aforesaid.
- Consent
Our loved ones are the receivers of the treatment that is given to them; thus, its content has to be known to them and they should be informed about any kind of side effects that the treatment may bring to them. The receiver needs to provide their consent to the relevant treatment. Any action or omission against their consent constitutes a serious violation of the fundamental principle of self-determination.
Sometimes the resident is not mentally able, for reasons connected to their mental or physical health to provide the centre with their consent. In situations like these, the family members or the relatives or any person that the treatment receiver has appointed as their custodian have to be informed by the centre with details regarding the content of the treatment and acting on behalf of them to give or refuse the necessary consent.