Welcome to Unit AS 1: Promoting Quality Care – Values of Care
Welcome to your study notes for Unit AS 1: Promoting Quality Care! Whether you feel confident or find Health and Social Care a bit challenging, these notes will break down the essential concepts step by step.
In health, social care, and early years settings, providing high-quality care is not just about medical treatment or practical help—it is about how people are treated. The values of care are the fundamental principles and professional standards that guide care workers every single day to ensure service users feel safe, respected, and valued.
Why is this unit important? AS 1 is an internally assessed portfolio worth 25% of your total AS marks. Understanding these core values, the laws that enforce them, and the regulatory bodies in Northern Ireland will help you achieve top marks in your portfolio coursework!
1. The Core Values of Care
The CCEA specification identifies three main Values of Care that every care setting must apply:
A. Promoting Equality and Diversity
Equality does not mean treating everybody exactly the same; it means treating people fairly and giving everyone equal opportunities by recognizing and meeting their individual needs.
Diversity means recognizing, respecting, and celebrating that everyone is unique. This includes differences in age, race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, culture, and religious background.
How care workers apply this:
• Providing information in alternative formats (such as large print, Braille, or different languages).
• Ensuring physical access to buildings for wheelchair users (ramps, wide doorways).
• Challenging discriminatory comments or behavior in the care setting.
• Offering meal choices that suit religious requirements, allergies, or personal preferences (e.g., Halal, Kosher, vegetarian).
B. Promoting Individual Rights and Beliefs
Every individual receiving care has personal rights and belief systems that must be upheld. Promoting these rights gives service users empowerment, dignity, and control over their own lives.
Key rights include:
• Choice: Allowing service users to make decisions about their daily routine, meals, clothing, and treatments.
• Privacy: Knocking on bedroom doors before entering, pulling curtains in hospital wards during examinations, and allowing private phone calls.
• Dignity and Respect: Addressing individuals by their preferred name and covering them properly during personal care.
• Beliefs: Respecting cultural and religious traditions, such as providing a quiet room for prayer or facilitating worship visits.
C. Maintaining Confidentiality
Confidentiality means protecting sensitive personal information from unauthorized access. Service users must trust that their personal details, medical histories, and family situations are kept secure.
How care workers apply this:
• Storing paper files in locked filing cabinets.
• Using password-protected computer systems and encrypted drives.
• Holding sensitive handover discussions in private staff rooms away from public areas or other service users.
• Sharing information strictly on a "need-to-know" basis.
Important Rule: When Can Confidentiality Be Broken?
Confidentiality is not absolute. A care worker must break confidentiality if a service user is at risk of serious harm, abuse, or is a danger to themselves or others (a safeguarding emergency). In these cases, information is shared only with designated professionals, such as a safeguarding lead or the police.
Key Takeaway for Section 1: Remember the big three values: Equality and Diversity (fairness & uniqueness), Rights and Beliefs (choice, dignity & autonomy), and Confidentiality (security & trust).
2. Legislation and Standards
Care values are not just good ideas—they are legally binding! Care workers and organizations must follow specific UK and Northern Ireland laws.
Key Legislation You Need to Know:
1. The Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003:
This law introduced a statutory duty of quality for Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts in Northern Ireland. It created standards to ensure care services are continuously monitored and improved.
2. Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Section 75) & The Equality Act 2010:
While the Equality Act 2010 is a UK-wide law protecting individuals from discrimination based on protected characteristics (such as age, disability, and race), in Northern Ireland, Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 specifically places a statutory duty on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity and good relations across nine key groups (including religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, disability, and dependents).
3. Data Protection Act 2018 / General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):
This legislation governs how personal data is collected, processed, and stored. In care settings, data must be kept accurate, stored securely, kept only for as long as necessary, and used only for the purpose it was gathered.
4. Human Rights Act 1998:
This act incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. It gives everyone fundamental rights that public bodies must respect, including:
• Right to life.
• Freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment (essential when preventing neglect or abuse in care homes).
• Right to respect for private and family life.
Common Exam Pitfall to Avoid
Don't mix up equality and equity! Giving every single resident the exact same standard meal is not equality if one resident has coeliac disease and needs gluten-free food. True equality ensures everyone receives the specific support they need to achieve the same positive health outcomes.
3. Northern Ireland Regulating Bodies
Who checks that care providers are following the rules in Northern Ireland? You must reference the correct NI bodies in your portfolio.
1. RQIA (Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority)
The RQIA is the independent body responsible for monitoring, inspecting, and regulating the availability and quality of health and social care services in Northern Ireland.
• What they do: Inspect hospitals, care homes, dental practices, and children's homes.
• Why it matters: They publish inspection reports, highlight areas needing improvement, and have the legal power to close down failing care homes or clinics.
2. NISCC (Northern Ireland Social Care Council)
The NISCC is the regulatory body for the social care workforce in Northern Ireland.
• What they do: Registers social workers and social care workers, sets standards for their education and training, and enforces the Standards of Conduct and Practice.
• Why it matters: If a social care worker acts unprofessionally or breaches care values, the NISCC can investigate and strike them off the register, stopping them from working in the sector.
Pitfall Alert!
Never cite the CQC (Care Quality Commission) in your CCEA assignments! The CQC operates in England. In Northern Ireland, the correct regulator is the RQIA.
4. Key Policies for Promoting Quality Care
A policy is an agreed plan or set of rules that an organization writes down to guide staff actions. Here are four vital policies you must evaluate:
1. Safeguarding Policy:
Outlines clear guidelines and procedures to protect vulnerable children and adults from abuse, neglect, and harm. It details who the designated safeguarding officer is and how to report concerns immediately.
2. Whistleblowing Policy:
Provides a safe, confidential procedure that allows staff members to report bad practice, abuse, or safety violations within their organization without fear of being victimized, bullied, or fired.
3. Complaints Policy:
Gives service users, families, and visitors a transparent, step-by-step pathway to raise concerns. It ensures all complaints are investigated thoroughly, responded to within a set timeframe, and used as learning opportunities to improve care.
4. Health and Safety Policy:
Identifies hazards, conducts risk assessments, and establishes safety procedures (such as fire drills, infection control, and manual handling training) to prevent injury to staff, service users, and visitors.
Key Takeaway for Section 4: Policies ensure that every staff member knows the exact step-by-step action to take in any situation, ensuring consistent and safe care.
5. The Impact of Poor Practice
When care values, policies, and legislation are ignored, the consequences can be devastating. In your AS 1 portfolio, you will examine real-world case studies of poor practice (such as the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust scandal or the Winterbourne View abuse).
The Triple Impact of Poor Practice:
1. Impact on Service Users:
• Physical Harm: Malnutrition, dehydration, untreated pressure ulcers (bedsores), physical injury, or even death.
• Psychological Distress: Anxiety, severe depression, loss of confidence, feeling humiliated, and extreme loss of trust in care professionals.
• Financial Loss: Being overcharged or having personal belongings stolen.
2. Impact on Staff:
• Emotional Toll: High stress levels, burnout, guilt, and moral injury from working in a toxic environment.
• Professional Repercussions: Disciplinary action, loss of job, being struck off professional registers (e.g., NISCC), and facing criminal prosecution or prison time.
3. Impact on Organisations:
• Regulatory Sanctions: Enforcement notices, hefty fines, or total closure by the RQIA.
• Reputational Damage: Negative media coverage, loss of public trust, and difficulty recruiting skilled staff.
• Financial Cost: Legal fees, compensation payouts, and increased costs for emergency management.
How to Link Poor Practice in Your Coursework
Whenever you describe an incident of poor practice, always ask yourself: Which specific care value was broken? Which piece of legislation was breached? Which policy failed to be implemented? Making these direct links is what earns the highest marks!
Quick Review & Memory Checklist
Before moving on to your coursework writing, check that you can answer these questions:
• Can you name the 3 core values of care? (Equality & Diversity, Rights & Beliefs, Confidentiality)
• What are the limits to confidentiality? (Safeguarding & risk of serious harm)
• Which body inspects care homes in Northern Ireland? (RQIA)
• Which body registers social care workers in Northern Ireland? (NISCC)
• Can you explain how poor practice affects service users, staff, and organisations?