Data Protection Act applies to all health, social care and early years settings. It is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament which explains UK law on the handling of data on perceptible living people. This legislation covers how to deal with private information although the Act itself does not discuss secrecy. This kind of information can only be accessed by care workers who have legal right to look at it and those individuals whose information is being held. Personal data must be kept accurate, up to date and shall not be kept for longer than is necessary as it should only be used for that particular purpose.
Data Protection Act is applied to business information, credit card details, health records and social service records. Information should be kept private as it’s only for professional care workers use, data controllers should make sure they password protect it if its saved on documents or if its written records they should keep them in filling cabinets that they can lock them so no one can access to it if they are not suppose to. Care workers who have service users records should make sure they keep the information safe as possible. Data Protection Act has eight principals: Should be processed fairly and lawfully.
Obtained for particular and lawful purposes- Enough, relevant and not excessive. Accurate and up to date. Not kept any longer than necessary. Processed in agreement with the data subject’s rights. Securely kept. Not transferred to any other country without enough protection. Data protection will affect Greyfriers nursing home because there will be service users who will want to keep their personal information or health records private.
They will have different problems and needs. If there is no data protection act applied to a nursing home, it will soon become very confusing for the nurses for many reasons i. e. information that is irrelevant is kept longer then necessary and useful information is not kept up to date. It’s essential that nursing home keeps accurate data so it could provide efficient service as possible.
Greyfriers nursing home is a well prepared home which updates its team skills on a regular basis so when they face serious injuries from service user they are ready to help them. Greyfriers have residents who need personal support and each one of them have different needs and problems, data protection is applied to Greyfriers nursing home as it would need information updating regularly since the residents get examined twice a day.
What is Care Standard Act? Care Standards Act 2000 is an act in the United Kingdom which is applied to a variety of care institutions, such as children’s homes, hospitals, nursing homes and residential homes. It is an act that caters for individuals with different needs for example an elder service user who has mobility needs will be cared for his need at his level whereas some who has short term memory will be cared at his level. Care Standard Acts make sure the service users get what they want e. g. which home they want to live in or what kind of care and support they would like.
If the service users find something that they don’t like they can always make a complain or share there points of view of what they would like to see improving. Besides, finding a top nursing home can be very tricky as not every service user gets the home they wish for as it can be very pricey so most people have to have an ‘estimation of needs’ before the social workers decides to pay for their fee. Care Standard Acts also make sure the workers who are working in residential home are professionally trained or are in process. People who work in nursing homes as care assistant have achieved Foundation Standards, set by the Care Act 2000.
The purpose of Care Standard Act is to make sure: It supply minimum standards below which no provider may act on. Ensure the protection of residents. Safeguard and promote the health, welfare and quality of life of residents Provide standards which are strong, measurable and enforceable, in order to achieve these aims. Care Standard Act provides care for the residents in Greyfriers nursing home also supporting them in every way and giving them what they want e. g. letting them decide what kind of home they want to be in or what special care they would like to receive.
This act is applied so that they can provide good service for the service users in Greyfriers nursing home. Greyfriers is a contented nursing home and whenever possible they are ready to lend a hand. Gwen who is 70 years old wants to balance her diet, she is very old in age and is overweight which is extremely bad for her health especially if she suffering from worn joints as well as senile dementia. She has recently requested for a personal care taker who she wants them to be with her whenever possible, she believes if she receives a good care from a care worker she will eventually overcome her bad habits of eating junk food.
Care Standard Act will make sure she receives the service she’s looking for and support her in any way that she gains a healthy lifestyle. What does Access to Personal Files mean? Access to Personal Files act comes directly form Data Protection Act. It allows service users to access their own personal files and records. This kind of information is held by Data controllers. If a service user request to see their own personal information held by the act, they have the right to contact their GP for their medical records.
The Act has no minimum age obligation for applicants so this means children can also apply for their own records provided if they are competent of understanding. The Data Protection Act gives service users the right to have wrong data about them corrected however this simply applies if the data is untrue or deceptive. Amongst other things, these necessitate that the information must be composed and used fairly and legally, information must always be precise and sufficient and not held longer than necessary.
Greyfriers nursing home allows its service users to have an access to their information held by them only if they request to see them. However, for their medical records they have to contact their own GP’s for them. Even Greyfriers don’t have access to their medical records as they don’t have right to look at them without the permission of the service users. Service users in Greyfriers have the right to change their data if they believe it is inaccurate or wrong. Moreover, if service users want to complain about the medical treatment they are receiving then they have the right to request their medical records from their GP’s.
Fawzia is one of the Greyfriers oldest residents; she is currently suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Few years ago she fell rather unwell and had to take some medications to cure herself however few months went by and her condition degenerate. Her family on her behalf requested her medical records, which is allowed. Nevertheless they found out that they have been giving her the medicine at wrong timings of the day. Now Fawzia has decided that she should be discussed with before they give her the medicine.