The responsibilities of people who work in health and social care settings

Question 1

Define responsibilities

Answer 1

Refers to the duties and requirements of professionals when carrying out their roles. All professionals have the responsibility to follow all policies (e.g. health and safety) and procedures (guidelines on how to comply with policy) within their health care setting.

Question 2

List a doctors responsibilities

Answer 2

• Diagnosing illness
• Prescribe appropriate treatment or medication
• Referring patients to specialists
• discuss and agree an individual treatment plan

Question 3

List a nurses responsibilities

Answer 3

• Administering drugs and injections
• Preparing patients for operations
• Planning patient discharge from hospital
• Helping with recovery and rehabilitation
• Writing patient care plans

Question 4

List a midwife’s responsibilities

Answer 4

*diagnosing, monitoring and examining pregnant women
* providing antenatal care, including screening tests
* assisting during labour
* providing support and advice following miscarriage, termination or neonatal death
* liaising with other agencies to ensure continuity of care

Question 5

List a healthcare assistant’s responsibilities

Answer 5

• monitoring patient conditions by taking temperature, pulse, respiration rate
• taking blood samples
• washing and dressing patients
• talking to patients working under the direction of nursing staff

Question 6

Listing an occupational therapist’s responsibilities

Answer 6

• being aware of acute medical conditions and how to overcome them in contexts such as A&E and acute medicine
• advising on specialist equipment to assist with daily activities
• advising on home and workplace alterations e.g. wheelchair access
• assisting people to return to work

Question 7

List key responsibilities of a care manager

Answer 7

• day to day running of residential care settings
• supervising work of care assistants
• observing, listening and responding to resident concerns
• ensuring quality of care meets standards and adheres to legislation
• maintaining accurate resident records

Question 8

List the responsibilities of a care assistant

Answer 8

*providing appropriate daily personal care
* liaising with other health and care professionals
* making service user feel at ease
* observing and reporting changes in health and wellbeing of service user

Question 9

List the responsibilities of a social worker

Answer 9

• keeping informed of changes in policy and and procedure
• preparing and reviewing case files of clients
• ensuring continuity of care
• liaising with other agencies e.g. the police for vulnerable children
• managing a designated workload

Question 10

List the responsibilities of a youth worker

Answer 10

• completing a background check with the disclosure and barring service
• acting as a mentor to young people
• offering advice on topics such as sexual health using language which is accessible to young people
• working across different sectors, including care and criminal justice / public, private + voluntary organisations
• developing projects with schools and other organisations, such as debates about elections

Question 11

List the responsibilities of support workers

Answer 11

• implementing care plans agreed with social workers
• following the instructions of health and care professionals
• supporting members of families who provide care with parenting, financial or domestic skills