Understand Your Role

The role of the care worker is to provide care and support following agreed ways of working as required

Specific requirements will vary between services, but there are common standards to all care work in England

The Care Certificate is a nationally recognised standard in the UK developed by Skills for Care

This training package is based on the Care Certificate standards and is intended to give learners the base knowledge in each for induction

The Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers
in England sets out a code of practice for all care and support workers

According to Skills for Care, the Care Certificate is an agreed set of standards that define the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of specific job roles in the health and social care sectors

It is made up of the 15 minimum standards that should be covered if you are ‘new to care’ and should form part of a robust induction programme

Skills for Care say the Code of Conduct sets the standard expected of all adult social care workers and healthcare support workers in England. It outlines the behaviours and attitudes that people who need care and support should rightly expect.

It sets out 7 standards for all care work in England:

1. Be accountable by making sure you can answer for your actions or omissions
2. Promote and uphold the privacy, dignity, rights, health and wellbeing of people who use health and care services and their carers at all times
3. Work in collaboration with your colleagues to ensure the delivery of high quality, safe and compassionate healthcare, care and support
4. Communicate in an open, and effective way to promote the health, safety and wellbeing of people who use health and care services and their carers
5. Respect a person’s right to confidentiality
6. Strive to improve the quality of healthcare, care and support through continuing professional development
7. Uphold and promote equality, diversity and inclusion

Your personal beliefs and experiences affect your attitudes to people and situations

You are expected to act without judgement or prejudice in your duties as a care and support worker

It is important to be self-aware and understand where your biases may lie in order to help yourself uphold the standard of care provided to each individual & remain neutral

Your employer will specify what is required in your role and how it should be performed in their policies and procedures

They should also stipulate values, aims and objectives which should govern all aspects of the service provided

These serve as a ‘mission statement’ to guide the service and its staff, and help service users understand what to expect from them

You can also refer to your employer’s Statement of Purpose which is provided to the CQC upon registration

Your rights as an employee are:

1. To work in a safe environment with safe equipment
2. To have your person information stored securely and kept confidential
3. To be paid fairly and equally
4. To be treated fairly in terms of your employment & hours

Your responsibilities as an employee are:

1. To comply with agreed ways of working & report safety concerns
2. To keep other peoples information stored securely and confidentially
3. To treat other people equally regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief or sexual orientation